


A Painting in the Park

by DraakHart



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Romance, a little bit of angst maybe?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-14 15:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 63,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16495226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraakHart/pseuds/DraakHart
Summary: One is in love with the art left in a park, the other with notes of encouragement. How and when will they meet, and how long until they realize that their love may run deeper than for just that which was left behind?A RWBY modern AU! White-Rose & Bumblebee (mostly WR)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special Thanks
> 
> xXIyra16Xx - Xlyra helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotyzini from FFN - Mikotizini helped with the editing of the final draft and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!
> 
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 1

Weiss was walking towards the park as she did almost every evening after work. It was a habit that she'd picked up over the past few years, and to be honest she quite enjoyed her walks. She didn't get out and about to often and the quiet park was a perfect way to make up for it.

But lately, she was enjoying her time spent here more and more. As she turned off the sidewalk and onto a smaller path that led through some light vegetation and trees Weiss sighed happily. The park was quite something, it was just a small patch of nature in the bustling city of Vale if one was to compare it to the other parks around but it wasn't often frequented.

Weiss enjoyed that and took the opportunity to relax as she looked around. She knew that it should be here somewhere. Without fail, there was a new one every day for the past few weeks and she couldn't wait to get a glimpse of it. When she turned a bend on the path that led out of the thin line of trees and into a clearing she finally saw what she was looking for. Oddly enough it was in the center of the clearing, usually, it was off to the side or in a small grove off the path.

Weiss walked up to the sculpture so she could take a look at it as it rested on a stone table. Today the sculpture was of a crescent moon engulfed by a rose and its stem. It was about two feet tall, which is a good deal bigger than the usual sculptures that Weiss found. At the base was the name of this work of art and next to it was the creators' personal insignia, a rose head in full bloom.

'Crescent Rose'

As far as Weiss could tell the sculptures were always made of some kind of quick drying clay that was then painted over. It could have likely been made one, or quite possibly two, days ago. The moon on the sculpture was a startling and brilliant white while the rose itself was a deep crimson in color. These were two of her favorite colors and it made Weiss love the piece all the more.

"Quite a beautiful piece we have here today." Weiss quietly said to herself. She was quite glad that she had started bringing a camera to the park with her as she snapped a few pictures. She didn't know who made these but she did know that they were impressive and that they somehow made her day that much better.

Once finished with the pictures Weiss went and sat on a nearby bench before setting about getting comfortable. After she was content Weiss pulled out a stack of papers that made up an unpublished book that she was editing for a friend of hers.

"You have quite the imagination, Ms. Belladonna. I wonder how you manage to come up with these ideas that you write about."

Weiss smiled to herself as she read along and made notes on the papers. This time the book she's writing was about a group of 4 friends that were torn apart after a tragic attack on their beloved city.

She was nearing the end of editing the first draft and thankfully the ending was at least happy. She always struggled when her friend Blake wrote stories with sad and painful endings. Weiss refused to ever tell her friend but whenever she read those stories she would always end up crying at least a little.

Blake was just such a good writer and she could very easily draw out the emotions of her readers. It was one of the reasons why she always asked herself as to why Blake stayed with her current publishers. If she tried she could definitely get an even better company to publish her work and get her name out there. Maybe it was because she, her best friend, was part of the small company?

Either way, Weiss was grateful that she stayed and that she was the person lucky enough to get to read her stories before they even hit the shelf.

Time passed by quickly and before Weiss realized it, it was time to go. If she stayed too late then it would start to get dark and cold out and she just wasn't quite dressed for the chill of an early spring night.

Weiss quickly packed up the papers to Blake's book before heading over to the sculpture once more. She set a slip of paper under Crescent Rose with a soft smile and started walking out of the park. The slip of paper was something she'd been doing for a little while.

She wasn't sure if the artist ever got it but it made her feel a bit lighter in her otherwise heavy world. Blake was really her only friend and the only thing she ever did constantly was going to the park to read and edit for her dear friend. Other than that her life was mostly made of paperwork or waiting. Waiting for what? She wasn't exactly sure but she knew she was waiting for something.

On the paper was the same thing she always put on it. There was praise for the artists' beautiful work and how it was something that would brighten her day, no matter what has happened to drag her down. As Weiss walked away she told herself that she would try and find out who this mystery sculptor was and tell them just what she thought about their works.

By the time Weiss got home, she had decided that this weekend she would try and meet the person who leaves the sculptures in the park. If she had to she would sit on the bench and wait from dawn until dusk until someone brought the new sculpture.

But until then Weiss had work to do. This next draft of Blake's would be the one that got printed out and so Weiss had to make sure that there were as few mistakes as possible. That thought on her mind she sat at her table as her dinner heated up on the stove and continued to pour over the stacks of words. By the end of the week, it was going to be perfect and she could finally read the finished version. That time she would read it for enjoyment instead of to critique.

\----------------

"Yang! Come on! We don't have all dayyy."

Ruby was almost literally pulling Yang down the sidewalk in order to get to the library. She needed some new books for her upcoming painting project and Yang was her ride to and from the town square library.

Obviously, Yang hated coming here but she was one of the few people who could get her to do almost anything, even things she hated… Well, she actually was the only person who could do that but still!

"Ruby, why do I have to come with you again?" Yang had been complaining for a good chunk of the way here and leaving the car behind to start walking didn't seem to have changed anything.

"I told you! I need some books on art styles!"

"But why? You're already, like, the best artist in all of Vale!" She blushed slightly at the praise. She didn't think she was as amazing as Yang said but she couldn't really argue with her without her dearest sister turning it into a big embarrassing scene for her. But even if she didn't believe it, she still enjoyed the praise. It always felt nice to have her big sisters approval after all.

"Because I need an idea for my new project…" Ruby sighed quietly

"You mean the big one that they're supposed to put-"

"Yes, that one." Ruby cut Yang off and started pulling her along again. It was easier now that she explained her reasons as to why she needed to come. However, she knew that it would be short-lived and she wanted to get as far as possible before Yang decided to resist again.

They hadn't been able to park as close to the library as Ruby would've liked because of the lack of parking spaces and so they had to walk a good 10 minutes in order to get to the library, with Yang complaining every few moments. It seemed like the town square was busy but as they entered Ruby was relieved that the library wasn't too crowded.

"Well we're here now so where are those books you wanted?" Yang said with feigned exasperation.

"Hehehe… Well… I actually don't know what books I'm going to get yet." Ruby smiled a sheepishly as Yang looked at her slightly annoyed. She usually looked ahead and knew what she would get, this meant that Yang had been expecting a quick in and out.

"Fine! Just come find me when you're ready to go. I'll see if I can find someone to talk to. Maybe some cute guy that needs a lift home…" Yang mused the last part to herself as she looked around.

Ruby pointed her in the direction of a lone raven-haired girl in the corner.

"Yang go talk to her. She looks interesting and it seems like she could use some company?" She had gotten to know Yangs preferences in both male and females. She used to be quite oblivious to these things but eventually she had started noticing these things. And despite how Yang insisted that she was straight and not gay or bi, Ruby knew the truth. She was once more proven correct as she saw Yangs' eyes light up at the sight of the other girl as she was turning herself towards the art section of the library.

After getting to the art section she looked around a little bit before looking through the spines of all the books. There were various things there, varying from beginners books to advanced theories on what colors and shapes are most compatible with the human brain. None of those were what she was looking for though and she was starting to get mildly annoyed that she couldn't find anything that could spark an idea.

Ruby let out a heavy sigh as she neared the end of the bookshelf she was looking through. She was about to turn around to go look at the next shelf when a book caught her eye.

'Monochromatic Artistry'

The style of painting in black and white. She'd done it before but wasn't ever interested in it. She really loved the vibrant colors that came with the more… Well colorful, pieces of art. But as she looked at the book she had the seedling of an idea spark to life in her brain. There wasn't enough there to say what it was quite yet but a seedling was better than nothing. With her mind made up, she tucked the book under her arm and continued her search.

Ruby spent the better part of an hour looking around the art section for books, and when she finished her search she had a good six new books. Three of the books were on monochromatic art, two were on the drawing of natural landscaping (something she loved to paint and draw), and one was on hair drawing techniques. The monochromatic books were for the idea she had sprouting in her mind and the landscaping one was just something she always tried to find while at the library. But the book of hair. That one was because Yang wanted to be painted by Ruby. And she wasn't usually the best at drawing hair. Especially Yangs.

When she finally decided that she had what she needed, Ruby made her way back to the check out area. After she finished there she looked around for Yang and was pleased to find her still with the raven-haired girl she had believed would be a good match. She took a closer look at the girl while she approached with a friendly smile. Yup, just Yangs' type. Maybe a bit quieter and into books then she would prefer but look wise? Spot on.

"Hey, Rubes! Come here and meet my new friend!" Yang excited got up and pulled Ruby over. She noticed how Yangs' new 'friend' flinched at the sudden volume of the exclamation and quietly snickered to herself. The poor girl was going to have to deal with her loud sister a lot it seemed. It almost made her feel bad for her. Almost.

"Ruby, this is Blake! Blake, this is Ruby. My sister!"

"Nice to meet you, Blake!" Ruby held out her hand to shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Ruby." Blake gave her a soft smile and shook her hand gently, but yet firmly. It was quite different from Yangs' handshakes. For one, the older girl doesn't ever do handshakes - instead opting for bear hugs. But besides that, when Yang does shake hands it's much like her hugs. Strong and likely to squeeze the life out of you.

Ruby takes a quick glance at Yang and notices that she is none too discreetly staring at her new friend, and has to hide a smirk. She returns her attention to Blake so that they can talk some.

"So Blake, whatcha up to?" She asks this because, while she is at a library and has a decent stack of books around her, she is also surrounded by papers.

"Oh, not much. I'm just working on the final draft for my new book. My editor sent in her final revisions this morning and I wanted to get this done before the weekend."

So Blake was an author! That got Ruby excited enough that she was almost bouncing from all the excess energy.

"You write!? What kind of books do you write? What's this one about? Isn't it a lot of work to do an entire revision in…. Ummm…. 3 days?" Ruby realized she didn't even remember what day of the week it was and blushed a bit at that realization. She hoped that they didn't notice her small blunder. Especially Blake, because she actually kinda liked her so far.

"Yes I write, but you're going to have to read my books yourself in order to see what they're about."

"Oh, that's not fair ya should just tell us what they're about!" Yang decided to quip in, she was never much for reading anyways.

Blake writes a few names on a piece of paper and slides it over to her, while also seeming to let her comment on how long the revision would take go unnoticed. Yang was also being slightly ignored, much to her annoyance. Although Blake did have a small smirk now.

"These are my more popular books if you're interested. As for this book, I believe I'm going to title it as 'Grimm Eclipse'. It seems fitting in my opinion." Blake gives one of her soft smiles.

"I will definitely be reading these!" Ruby wasn't lying either. She really did plan to read the books, after all, she did enjoy more than just her art books. Besides reading an author's works can tell a lot about said author and Ruby wanted to get to know Blake a bit more.

"Glad to hear. Well, it's been fun talking to you, but I really must get back to work. As I said, I hope to finish this by the weekend. If I manage you'll probably be able to buy the printed version within the next few weeks."

"Alright well, we'll let you get back to it then!" Ruby grabbed hold of her still staring sister's arm and started pulling again.

"Wait!" Yang yells out a bit frantically as she's pulled from whatever alternate reality she had been in. She pats herself down before looking over at Blakes' pile of blank papers.

"May I?" She gestures to the papers and pens. Blake looks a tad confused but gives her a nod. Ruby watches her sister scribble down a series of numbers with a bemused smile on her face, knowing exactly what's happening.

"Give me a call or text some time!" Yang flashes a bright smile at Blake while handing her the paper. Blake hesitated for a few moments before accepting the paper, folding it, and putting it in her pocket neatly.

"I'll do that."

"Alright, Yangggg. C'mon we need to go back home anywaysss!"

Ruby practically dragged Yang from the library in a very similar manner to how she was brought to it in the first place. However, she eventually started to walk like a normal person and they made their way to the car.

"Ya know, she was actually kinda cute…" Ruby was going to have a little fun with her sister.

"Well, I wouldn't say cute… Maybe hot?" Yang gave a wink to her sister as she said this. And with the said wink and accompanying comment, Ruby's plans for poking fun at her sister were gone with the wind.

"Well, you weren't supposed to just straight up admit it…" Ruby grumbles to herself under her breath. Where's the fun in teasing her if she's just gonna straight up accept it! It's probably not even teasing at that point! She was annoyed now, Yang always got to tease her and make her embarrassed but whenever Ruby tried to do it to her it didn't work out. Nooooo instead she just straight up admitted…. Ruby's smile was back.

"Hmmm, so does that mean you're… attracted to her? Cuz it's usually pretty odd for a straight woman to be calling another woman hot." She gave her sister a knowing smile.

Yangs' only response was to open her mouth before closing it once more. Ruby let out a satisfied giggle before running off ahead in order to get to the car. As she ran off she could hear her sputter out some form of response at her sisters retreating form.

Yang quickly regained her senses and went off after her in order to catch up and explain herself, and if necessary to defend herself. After all, it's not every day that Ruby can pull that kinda thing over her sister.

When the car pulled up to Ruby and Yang's shared apartment, she ran inside. She wanted to get started on her project, but first for a bit of encouragement! She went up to a drawer next to her bedstand and pulled out a good-sized pile of little letters, and spent the next hour happily reading them. She even re-read some of her favorite ones a few times.

They all contained praise and compliments for her pieces of work, and all of them were from the same person. She didn't know who was writing and leaving them, but they were one of the reasons she had chosen to go through with her next project. After she finished reading her collection of letters she began to start studying her new books with earnest so that she'd be able to do the best she could in order to make her favorite fan proud.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author)
> 
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 2

Weiss was feeling quite dejected today. Not because the work week went bad or anything, but because these past two weekends she had waited all day to see if she could meet her mystery sculptor, and she had begun to think that she had stopped frequenting the park.

After that day of seeing Crescent Rose, she hadn't seen any new sculptures. The sculpture itself was still there and, oddly enough, a few people had decided to come to paint the park these past few weekends. However, none of them was the creator of the sculptures and so none of them were who she was looking for.

Still, Weiss was never one to give up and so tomorrow she would once again go and wait, just as she had said she would. Although she was starting to think that such a promise to herself was a mistake. She had started to notice recently that she had a bad habit of following through on her word, even if it wasn't something she should follow through on.

'Tell me again why I wanted to meet this person so badly that I was willing to sacrifice my entire weekend for this?' Weiss asked herself this question for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour, although it was more likely only the third.

Her phone buzzed repeatedly, and for a few moments, Weiss just started at it. She wasn't called very often and quickly went to answer it when she realized who it was. Blake had been calling a lot more often these past two weeks, although that was understandable since her book just got published and released.

"Hello Blake, how are you today?"

"Oh please, you can drop the whole formal girl act around me, ice princess. We've known each other for years now."

"First off, it's not an act! Secondly, stop calling me that!"

"No can do. But I wanted to call to let you know you should check out the news. You should know the channel." So Blake wasn't calling because of her book? Not quite what she expected but she shrugged to herself.

"What? Did something big happen?"

"Yes and no. Just check. I'm with company, so I have to go."

Blake quickly hung up and Weiss let out a sigh. Might as well check as Blake had mentioned she should. After turning on the TV and scrolling through the channels, she found the news station that she believed Blake had meant. The news was probably over already but would repeat in a few minutes, so she got comfortable after making a quick cup of coffee and settling on the couch.

The news eventually returned and Weiss half listened to it as she sat in front of the TV. That is until a name caught her attention.

"In other news, the head of the Schnee corporation and family has finally announced that the heir apparent to the company is now the youngest child of the Schnee family. After 4 years of searching for the previous heir, Weiss Schnee, the family head, Jacques Schnee, has decided to forgo the efforts of the ongoing search."

Weiss allowed herself a small smile, one that was equal parts sadness and happiness. She sent a quick congratulatory message to Winter for her to pass onto Whitley, the first message they had shared in almost a year, on finally achieving what he had wanted for so many years before turning off the TV and going to get her dinner ready. She had work to do and preparations to make, and so worrying about the family she had all but ceased contact with wasn't something she had time to do.

About a half hour later Weiss was finishing making her dinner and was working on her weekly budgeting, making sure she had all the money she needed for this weeks' living costs. After spending a good amount of time making sure all her finances were in good order and eating as she did so, Weiss' mind began to wander to her family.

Even though she had technically left the family, disowned it really, she still loved them. They had all treated her horribly, with the exception of Winter of course, but they were still blood and she cared about what happened to them. Even after all that being said, Winter was the only one she really ever kept in contact with, and she only did so rarely.

Weiss shook her head in order to clear out her thoughts. She had to get some food ready in order to stay all day at the park tomorrow. She was actually starting to enjoy her all day campouts on her weekends, as long as she brought something to do that is. So with a new goal in mind, she went and took out a small basket that was lined with a cloth and had a divider through the middle.

She put in a few sandwiches and pre-made salads, as well as a few other healthy snacks, in the leftmost side. On the right side, she put in papers to work on tomorrow, a book called Gambol Shroud by Blake Belladonna (not yet published), a scroll charger and a corresponding battery, and lastly empty papers and an assortment of writing utensils.

Satisfied that she'd be able to entertain herself for the day, Weiss decided to head to bed for the night. After all, she was going to have an early morning tomorrow if she wanted even the meager breakfast she ate daily, before heading out. With her final thoughts being of the beautiful sculptures and the mystery maker that she desperately wanted to meet for no apparent reason, Weiss fell into a content sleep.

\------------------

Ruby hadn't made much progress on her project. She had made so little progress in fact, that it wasn't even a fully bloomed idea yet! She had read through her books, many times actually, and still, the seedling of an idea that she had been gifted with wouldn't bloom into a flower!

And so because of this, Ruby decided that today she needed some inspiration. So that being said, she gathered up a painting board and some art supplies and went for a walk. If she were to come across inspiration she wanted to be prepared, and although yes, she could just make a quick sketch or make a note in her idea pad, she wanted to have the real thing in front of her as she worked.

Ruby wandered around the city for a while on this late Saturday morning, looking for inspiration anywhere and everywhere. But eventually lunch time came around and she still had nothing. She was hungry too, and you can't get work done on an empty stomach! Or at least she can't.

'Food, food, food. Where's something good today for lunch today?' Ruby asked herself as she looked around. It took her a moment to realize that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going as she wandered around.

After some 'careful' inspection, Ruby noticed that she was on a dirt path, likely leading into one of the cities parks.

'Wow, great detective work there Miss Rose.'

With this newfound 'discover' as to her whereabouts, she began to continue her walk down the path. If she was lucky she'd be at one of the parks closer to a food center. If not… well, then she was just going to have to either walk for a few more hours or figure out something else.

Ruby quickly emerges into a clearing, and she quickly notices that there is only a small amount of people in this park, maybe a dozen at most. The clearing was quite large for the number of people present and said people definitely made most of it.

There were two couples that are painting each other and laughing loudly in joy, most of their art quickly turning into playful hand art instead. There were a few parents watching their kids play together, one father playing catch with his daughter, and lastly…

Ruby was staring at a beautiful young woman that seemed to be having a picnic. She had gorgeous silver hair that was tied up a bit off to the left and a scar that ran from her forehead down to her right cheek. The scar went right over her eye. Her ice blue eyes.

The captivating girl was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a white shirt, yet despite that simple outfit she drew Ruby's eyes and wouldn't let them leave. She was reading a book intently, occasionally scribbling down notes of some sort on a notepad. The girl had a serene… yet also a sad or lonely look to her.

Since Ruby couldn't look away, she set down her art supplies and decided that she was going to ask that girl where she was. Since… well… she was kinda lost anyways. But might as well meet someone new and make a friend while she's here!

With that thought in mind, Ruby very confidently walked towards the girl. Or at least she tried. It quickly turned into a stumbling, shy walk as she almost lost her nerves. Once she was close enough to talk to normally Ruby cleared her throat in an attempt to announce her presence.

It didn't work. The girl was quite drawn into the book and her own writing. It seemed like she was… editing? So she was editing a book, maybe her own that she was hoping to publish or something? Either way, she still hadn't noticed her presence.

"Um… Excuse me?"

The girl jumped a little and quickly stared at her in surprise. Oops. Shaking her head after a few moments, the girl offered a small smile.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?"

"Oh… uh yeah… about that…" She was mumbling now. Ruby made the effort to talk normally again. Or to at least try.

"Uh, so I was wondering if you could tell me where I was? I kinda got lost wandering around and I'm not sure where I ended up." She admitted this as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"O-oh! We're in the Emerald Forest park. Or well, one of them at least. This one is on the southern side and is one of the less frequented ones."

The Emerald Forest was located near Beacon, which is one of the more prestigious colleges around. That meant that she wasn't very near to food sadly enough. All students ate on campus or drove a good 10 minutes to get food… That meant she was a good hour and a half away, if she were to walk.

"Well shoot. Now, where am I going to get some food." Ruby spoke aloud to herself and pouted. She was hungry now and yet she had to wait still. Maybe she could call Yang? Wait, no. She was off hanging out with Blake. Also, her art stuff wouldn't fit in the small car they had. Or on Yang's bike, well safely that is.

And now to top it all off the girl she had approached was looking at her with this odd expression on her face now. She hadn't even introduced herself properly and the girl already thought she was a weirdo! How could she have screwed up something so simple, so fast?!

"Hey, this might sound a bit odd since you don't really know me… But I have a bit of food I can share with you if you're really that hungry. I was just about to eat lunch myself."

Wait, what? Ruby was beaming at the girl and happily accepting the invitation by taking a seat next to her before she even realized what she was doing. What was she doing? She was accepting food from a stranger!

It took her a few moments to realize something else. She honestly didn't care about that right now. She wanted to get to know this girl and by golly, this was a great opportunity. She noticed the girl hesitate for a moment before looking at her worriedly.

"Pardon my asking, but are you allergic to anything by any chance?"

"No… Why?"

"I only brought one type of sandwich with me. Thought I'd ask before I possibly feed you something poisonous." She pulled out two sandwiches and handed one over.

Ruby smiled and accepted the sandwich the girl gave her. It was nice of her to ask something like that. Or creepy. She could just be seeing if there's anything she could feed her to harm her? Wait, no. Ruby's the one who approached her, so the girl wouldn't do that? Would she?

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Ruby finally decided she can't take it anymore.

'But what is she going to say?! She doesn't know anything about this new person! What does she like to talk about?! Why does meeting new people have to be so hard? But she didn't have this much trouble when she met Blake… Maybe this girl was a bit different?'

It hit her that she still hadn't introduced herself or even asked for the girl's name, and yet here they were sharing a lunch together. How could she forget about that?

'Okay, Ruby, breath. You need to calm down. Just introduce yourself.'

After a few moments of controlled breathing and closed eyes, which she was sure the girl noticed. She set the sandwich down and nervously held out her hand for a handshake.

"So I probably should've started with this, but my name is Ruby! Ruby Rose! It's nice to meet you, and thank you for sharing your lunch with me! It's very good and-" She quickly clamped her mouth back shut before she could keep rambling.

The girl had a small grin on her face… Or was that a smirk? She couldn't tell because it was soon gone and replaced by that same serene look from earlier. The one that also looked sad, as if the girl had lost a great deal. She opened her mouth in reply before hesitating.

"My… you can call me Snow."

Ruby started to grin as an idea came to mind. An idea that had been eluding her no matter how hard she had pushed for it to appear. She didn't know if it was the fact that she had relaxed and focused on something different for a while, or if it was this Snow girl, or maybe a mixture of both…

Well, actually she could firmly say it was, in fact, a mixture of both. After all, she never would've been able to even ask this if she hadn't met her.

"Well, Snow… I'm curious… How would you feel if I asked if I could paint you?" Ruby watched as Snow looked at her in confusion.

"Why?"

"Um… Because… Uh… Why not?"

'Great response, genius'

"Because I'm a complete stranger, and I'm not particularly fond of the idea that someone will have a painting of me." Snow replies in a deadpan way. She isn't wrong though, it does sound a bit creepy.

"Oh nonono, it won't be for me to keep! I swear! It's just… I've been walking around the city all day looking for something to paint… and I just thought that it would be fun to paint you."

Snow still seemed quite skeptical of this whole thing.

"Why have you been looking for something to paint?"

Yup. Definitely skeptical.

"Well, I have a project that I've been working on and-"

"What kind of project? Is it for school? Is it important?"

"Well… It's important to me I guess?" It was the honest truth. It was important to her, although for a large variety of reasons. That doesn't seem to convince Snow to accept that though.

"... No." Snow gives her curt reply and Ruby deflates at that. What was she going to do now? She didn't have any other ideas and her project deadline was coming up fast.

She gave Snow a bit of the puppy eye power, hoping it would help at least a bit. She was not disappointed. After all, nobody can resist Ruby Rose's all-powerful puppy dog eyes!

Except for that one old shopkeeper… And Coco, the fashion designer who Yang knows… and Raven, Yang's mom that shows up every few months for a day or two if they were lucky… and… well okay, maybe they weren't all-powerful but still! They worked today!

Snow sighed into her hands.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?" Snow said this as she pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed it. The words excited her and she almost started bouncing uncontrollably.

"Just go back to doing what you were before I came along! I'll be right back!" Ruby ran over to where she left her painting supplies and went to get set up. She was going to paint her best piece of work yet!

And so she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I proudly present the next chapter!  
> So what are your guys' thoughts?  
> What do you think happened that made Weiss leave behind her family?  
> What about this whole 'Snow' thing?  
> And most importantly - Are you enjoying reading this so far?  
> I'll see you all next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks
> 
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author)
> 
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 3

'Ruby… Ruby Rose… a nice name for a nice girl…'

Weiss was once again thinking about her encounter at the park a month and a half ago. That was happening a lot, and quite frankly it was starting to annoy her. Although she also didn't mind it too much, when she popped into her head.

Ruby was only a bit taller than her own short stature and had short, choppy raven hair that was dyed crimson at the tips. She had been wearing simple jeans accompanied by a red and black t-shirt, and she looked good in it. However, the most memorable thing about the girl was her eyes. Her eyes were a startling silver color that Weiss had never seen before.

The most annoying thing though was the fact that the second she showed up, she had forgotten about her task to keep an eye out for the sculptor, which was her whole purpose for being there! And then there's the whole painting thing…

She let out a sigh.

'Why did I agree to let her paint me again? What if father, or someone close to him were to find it? I will have to leave Vale! And I am actually quite enjoying it here…'

Despite the fact that she could possibly be tracked through it, she didn't regret it whatsoever. The happiness that was apparent in this 'Ruby' girl's eyes had made it well worth it. She just couldn't fathom why she had actually agreed to it!

'Well, it could possibly have to do with the fact that you find her quite attractive… And that is NOT helping right now.' Weiss let out another sigh.

"You know that I'm still here right, 'Snow'?" She flinched at the words. Blake. She was with Blake still.

"Sorry Blake, I was just… thinking about things I guess."

"You've been doing that a lot lately. You doing alright?" Blake seemed to be genuinely concerned for her. It was sweet but she had already done so much for her and Weiss really didn't want to make her worry.

'After all, there is nothing for her to worry about. I hope.'

"Yes I am doing just fine, thank you for asking though. Just need something to keep me from stressing out about work and all that."

"Well, you know that girl I've been mentioning lately?"

"The BMX Star?"

"Yes, that one."

"I seriously don't know how you deal with someone so loud." Weiss shakes her head in wonder. Blake is so quiet and reserved and yet she'd been befriended by a big ball of yellow energy.

"Don't ask me, I'm still trying to figure it out. Especially since… well since she asked me out."

Weiss wasn't shocked or surprised per say, but she still wasn't expecting it. She had known that Blake was bi, which was actually one of the reasons they got along so well. Blake was able to understand her attraction to other females. And although Blake had been talking about the girl more and more lately, she still didn't expect them to become a thing. Or at least not so soon.

She quickly regained her composure.

"That's great! When is the big day? And what are you going to be doing?"

"I'm not quite sure what the plan is yet. She wanted it to be a surprise. Or she hadn't thought that far ahead. Either way, it's this Friday."

"Well, that makes things more difficult. Do you know what you are going to wear or anything like that?"

"No, I'm not sure how formal I should dress."

"Ask?" A simple solution, but if what she's heard so far is any indication…

"No that wouldn't work. She'll probably wait until last minute before letting me know what kind of outfit to wear."

"So what are you going to do? I know you enjoy having your outfit picked out and ready before it's time to wear it. Especially so for more important events like a date."

Blake was thoughtful for a little while before a spark went through her eyes.

"Her sister. If I ask her to find that out for me, then Yang won't have much choice but to spill about her plans. She kind of has a sweet spot for the girl. And not a small one at that." Blake had a happy smile plastered all over her face as she dialed up the sister mentioned earlier.

'It must be nice for the two sisters to be so close. I wish Winter and I would be as close.'

"Hey there Ru-" Blake had obviously been cut off.

'Turns out both sisters enjoy talking. Who knew?' Weiss rolled her eyes at her own question as she waited. After a minute or two Blake finally got some words of her own into the conversation.

"I would love to. And I think I actually have the perfect person to go with me as my plus one. But first things first. Could you figure out what kind of outfit I'm supposed to wear on Friday? Ask your sister and let me know, please… thank you."

Blake hung up the phone and smiled at Weiss.

"What is it…?" She was curious about the whole plus one thing, as those were only present for RSVP events.

"So, how would you like to go to the opening of the new art exhibit in two weeks?"

The two weeks until the art exhibit passed by quickly. The first week was full of preparations and making sure she'd be set to go. She didn't want to be to easily identified if someone who knew her father happened to attend this. After all, at this point, her father didn't care about having her back. He just cared about how she had disobeyed him to such an extreme extent.

Weiss shook the thoughts of her father and what would happen if she was found out of her head. She was going to see the new art exhibit! This was something she'd enjoy doing, she was sure of it. If she was lucky she might even find a sculpture or two from the mystery sculptor from the park. She knew they had been working on something big but didn't know much else than that.

Frankly, she only knew that much because early last week they had left a note inscribed in a block, yes inscribed like in ancient times. It had just mentioned that they had a big project that they were working on and that they apologize for not leaving sculptures for people to enjoy.

At the bottom, it had specifically thanked her for the notes of encouragement she had left! Or as close to specifically thanking her as one could get when they didn't know who left the notes. So after seeing that, she had decided to postpone her mission until they started leaving behind sculptures again.

Meanwhile, she was now focusing on Blake and Yang. The two were growing quite close quite quickly. When Weiss visited Blake, Yang was almost always on her way out. They hadn't really talked much yet, or really knew who the other was, but they had seen each other. At least Blake and Yang hadn't necessarily gotten physical yet, and thank goodness for that. Because based off of some of the books Blake reads, physical intimacy could get quite awkward for anyone they were going to be around.

But she was happy for her. Blake was a good friend, no she was an amazing friend, and she rightly deserved to be happy. When Weiss was at her lowest and when she had nothing, Blake was the one she could turn to in order to get back onto her feet. And for that, Weiss couldn't thank her enough.

She could try though. And so, when Blake's date had come around, Weiss had helped her get ready and had helped to keep her calm. Who knew that the famous Blake, master of indifference, could get so nervous?

"Hey Ice queen, you almost ready?" Blake asked and knocked at the same time.

"Sorry, I will be right out. Sometimes these things can be of a pain." She was wearing a light purple dress and had dyed her hair for the night. She refused to permanently dye her hair but for the night it would be a brunette color. She was too well known for having white hair to be able to go around at this event comfortably without the risk of being noticed.

Sadly she also couldn't wear her normal outfits, seeing as any light blue or white colors being worn would draw attention to her in general. And attention isn't something she wanted right now.

"It's all good. If you need some help, just let me know."

"Thank you, but I think I will be good. I am already almost done as it is." Weiss looked in the mirror one last time, debating whether or not to put her hair into an off-kilter ponytail. She finally decided against it, she had started putting her hair up less and less since she had departed from her family.

After putting on her heels and a purple jacket that matched her dress, Weiss was walking out the door. Blake was waiting down the hall and looked over upon hearing the closing door.

"You look great. The hair is a little unsettling though."

"I'm going to have to agree with you on that. Now let us get going. After all, the sooner we get this over and done with, I can wash out this horrendous dye." Weiss feigned annoyance at the whole ordeal, although Blake already knew how excited she really was for this.

Blake only hummed in response and started walking towards the lobby and then to her car, as Weiss followed close behind. Weiss was wearing a small smile as she entered into the passenger side. She had no clue who this sister of Yang's was, but either she was well off or she had connections allowing her to get tickets. Either way, it was a bit nerve-wracking that someone with that level of power was now so close to her life.

But tonight was a night to enjoy herself, not one to worry about possibilities.

"So how is the new girlfriend?" Blake blushed a bit at the question. She was obviously not quite used to this still.

"She… well, we are actually doing quite well, I suppose. I'm planning to go and see one of her performances tomorrow night actually."

"You have never really been into that style of entertainment." Weiss noted this in a matter-of-fact way that wasn't meant to be hurtful, and thankfully Blake already knew this.

"You're right, I wasn't ever into it. I'm still not really into it, but I will admit that she looks hot in her outfit." Oh, Oum, Blake had that dreamy-eyed face again.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Now watch where you're driving! I don't want to end up like last week's road kill." Weiss poked fun at Blake, who in turn blinked rapidly a few times and sported a light blush.

The rest of the drive was spent in content silence. They had been friends for so long that they didn't need to talk in order to be comfortable around each other. There had never really been much talking as they were both equally quiet people. Which is one of the reasons as to why it was such a surprise that Blake had ended up with Yang, who seemed to be the exact opposite of the quiet author.

They emerged from Blake's car after parking near the museum and Weiss was ready to be inside already. She couldn't explain how much she loved art and, frankly, it was one of the few things she missed about being part of the Schnee family. She had access to any and all pieces of art in existence and that had been one of the sole reasons she had stayed there for so long.

Weiss' hand hovered over her covered scar as she thought about the reason she had left her family when she did. Blake noticed it and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. This broke Weiss out of her thoughts and she threw a small smile Blake's way. She reciprocated the smile before heading towards the museum and Weiss was more than happy to follow.

It took them but a few minutes to reach the door to the museum and join the small assembly of people making their way inside. Upon entering, they showed their RSVP and were granted entrance to the new exhibit. And the first thing she saw shocked her.

It wasn't even the first display, nor was it the second. In fact, it was almost near the end of the exhibit. But there it was, drawing her eyes towards it the instant she walked in. Blake noticed where she was staring and started to quickly walk towards it, gently pulling Weiss along.

"Well this is one beautiful piece of work, I do have to admit." Blake nonchalantly commented.

"It is… A real shame too." Weiss still couldn't get over it. This painting may have been beautiful, but it was not something she wanted to see here. Because if her father saw it, then he would know that she was somewhere in Vale.

It was the painting that Ruby girl had painted of her in the park. Weiss sat there with a small smile gracing her face as she sat on the lush grass of the park. Except in the picture, the grass wasn't lush. In fact, nothing was vibrant in color except her. All the color drained out of everything the further it got from her, with most of the picture being strictly monochromatic.

"This painter seemed to have quite the theme in mind when producing this." There was a man commenting on the painting to a friend off to her right that she couldn't help but overhear.

"Hmm, yes I see what you mean. The quickly fading color seems to showcase the fact that the girl's life is devoid of color." The friend was commenting back. What they were saying definitely peaked her interest now.

"Ah yes, and I would dare say that it would mean that she is not horribly happy. Maybe not sad or in pain, but unfulfilled or lonely maybe?" At that, she stopped paying attention again.

'Am I lonely? Am I unfulfilled? Lonely… probably. But I did not feel that way when talking to Ruby, so how would she know? And I suppose I might feel a bit unfulfilled too.'

Weiss feels a twinge of sadness and pain at the thought of the truth. Then she notices something familiar about the painting. In the bottom right corner, there was a familiar symbol. A rosebud in full bloom, just like on the sculptures in the park.

'Could it be that Ruby Rose is the sculptor I have wanted to meet?! Her last name certainly does make sense considering the symbol she's put down onto all her works…'

Blake seemed to have noticed her change in attitude and gave her a curious look. She was worried about what this could mean, but she wouldn't let that worry show while out in public. Weiss, on the other hand, was sure that her expression had remained a constant mask of awe. That is until she noticed the rosebud. Now she just looked shocked.

"Let's go look at the other pieces of art and then head home White." Blake made an attempt to break through to her, and it worked.

"That sounds like a delightful plan Blake."

And so they spent the next few hours going through the pieces of work and admiring them. Although none held the skill of a certain red-headed girl that Weiss recalled meeting. And she wasn't just saying that because the painting held her in it, but because of the transition between styles. There was more than just one painting style, more than just two or three in fact. And yet despite all that, they all blended into each other in order to create a masterpiece.

Weiss was definitely not happy with this turn of events, in fact, she was quite livid that her life was going to be uprooted. And while she was upset with Ruby for putting the painting here, she was even more unhappy with herself for allowing this entire thing to happen in the first place. However, she was going to do her best to try and enjoy her evening with Blake.

It was just such a shame that it would probably lead her father right to her, and possibly ruin the life she had built up for herself. Weiss couldn't run either. If father caught even the smallest scent of her, she would be hunted and he would never stop. So it was best to just wait here and enjoy the life she has until it ended.

Eventually, Weiss and Blake went back to their separate homes. Supposedly they were both heading to bed to get a good night's sleep, but Weiss had other plans. If she only had a small amount of time left then she wanted to find out what she could about Ruby and hopefully be able to tell her how much it meant to meet her. Maybe she could even have the chance to do so in person.

Sadly, her search ended in vain. It looked like she wouldn't be able to do much, other than leaving a note in the usual place. And for all she knows, she wouldn't be around to see what happened next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'd just like to say that it's been a  
> pleasure to write this  
> and I'll enjoy continuing to do so!  
> And also I might've been a little  
> distracted this week by the release of  
> RWBY volume 6…  
> ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!  
> WE LOVE YOU!  
> (Especially Weiss ;) )  
> Let me know what you  
> think of the chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!  
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 4

 

Weiss heard a knock on the door and had already assumed the worst. It had been a week since the museum opened. And a week is all it would take for her father to send someone to find her. She put on one of her fake, pleasant smiles as she opened the door.

“Hey, Weiss.” It was Blake, and her smile almost instantly became real and more relaxed.

“Hello Blake, how are you doing?”

“I'm doing just fine, but I'm more worried about you. I know what it means that the painting showed up and I wanted to see how you were doing.” Blake's worry was well placed and so Weiss sighed unhappily.

“Frankly? I've been better. But I've enjoyed my time here and I'm just glad it has lasted this long.”

“Well…” Blake hesitated. Hesitation wasn't something that Blake had to deal with often, so it was picked up on quite quickly.

“Is something wrong Blake?”

“No, there's nothing wrong. But I was going to ask if you wanted to meet Yang and her sister before you… well before you get picked up.” Weiss knew how important Yang was to Blake, and she was quite happy that she wanted to include her on something like this before she had to leave.

“I would love to meet them. At least I will be able to see who will end up taking care of my best friend, when I am no longer around.” Weiss offered a sad smile and Blake returned it. They both knew that there wasn’t much that they could do about this. Neither of them had the money nor connections anymore.

“Alright. I’ll come to pick you up tonight at around 4. Sound good?”

“I could always just drive there myself, you know. That might take less time.” Weiss lightly joked, knowing the reason why she was going to pick her up.

“Yes, you could, but I would really appreciate the alone time together. Oum knows we don’t have much time left.” Weiss hummed at that. She then decided that it was time to move on from these depressing thoughts and onto something happier.

“Would you like to come in for a little while? We can talk about how your books are doing. Or you can tell me a bit more about this ‘Yang’ girl you’re so fond of.” Another smile, this one was happier and Blake seemed to appreciate it.

“I would love to, but I can’t stay for too long. It’s almost noon and I have to go home and start getting ready for my guests. You won’t believe how much they can eat.” Blake gave off an exasperated sigh, and Weiss decided that she was glad she wasn’t the one dating that family.

“Sounds like you have your work cut out for you, doesn’t it?” She asked teasingly while leading Blake in towards the kitchen-dining room combination. She started up some coffee for herself and boiled some water for Blakes’ tea.

“Oh, you have no idea. I think Yang can eat an entire cow, and her sister is no better. Although she’s more into the strawberries, cookies, and other sweets. And pancakes. They’re both big suckers for pancakes it turns out.” They continued to talk for about a half an hour, before Blake had to leave. Hopefully, nothing would happen in between the hours that Blake was absent, but Weiss’ luck might just have something to say about that.

\-----------

It was a few minutes before Blake was going to pick her up and Weiss was just finishing up getting ready. There wasn’t much she could do to get ready though, she wasn’t rich anymore and so she didn’t have expensive clothes or makeup. But she made do with the basics she had been able to find and afford.

She considered applying some makeup to her scar before quickly rejecting the idea. The scar had grown on her, reminding her of why she left and why she hadn’t returned on her own. She quickly thought of putting her hair up but disregarded that idea as well.

Her phone buzzed and when she looked at it she saw it was from Blake. She was letting her know that she was about to pull into the apartment complex she was located at. This prompted a flurry of motion as Weiss hurridly finished applying her makeup and putting on her light spring jacket.

There was a knock on the door right as she was approaching it. She already knew it was likely Blake but she was still nervous at the idea of who it could be. She calmly opened the door anyway.

“I take it you’re ready to go Ice Queen?”

“Yes, I am. And I thought I asked you to stop calling me that?” Weiss was well aware of the fact that she only noticed being called ‘Ice Queen’ half the time it happened, and that she commented on it even less.

“Hmm, yes I do seem to recall that. I also seem to recall telling you that I won’t do so.” Blake smiled and her eyes had a slight twinkle in them. Weiss rolled her eyes at this and Blake went back to being ‘normal’. Whatever that actually entailed.

“Now, let’s go. We don’t have forever you know.” Blake motioned towards the lobby with her head and started walking, Weiss following on her tail. She was excited to meet these two people that were apparently so important to her friend. She was glad that she would at least get to spend one last night with Blake.

“We may not have forever, but we might as well enjoy the time that we do have.” Blake looked back at her and gave a small smile to show that she agreed.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” And with that, they arrived at Blake’s car and started heading to her apartment. They, of course, talked while they drove, and the time passed by quickly. When they arrived though, Blake had her wait before getting out.

“I’d just like to give you a heads up to how… obnoxious they can be. I’d say it grows on you, but I doubt it’s for everyone. Just thought I’d warn you before we head up and I introduce you.” Blake laughed quietly at that.

“Wait, are they already up there?”

“Yeah. They arrived right before I left, so I let them in and then I drove to get you. Why?”

“So. Let me get this straight. After everything, you have told me about them… You left them alone and unsupervised in your own house?” She smirks as Blakes' eyes widen at Weiss’ words as she practically tears the door off of her own car.

“Smart move Belladonna. Smart move.”

“Shut it!” Blake snipped back in annoyance. Weiss only smiled at that and followed her up the stairs. Upon reaching the door Blake fumbled with her keys for a moment before Weiss finally laughed and put a hand on her shoulder.  
“I’m sure it is fine. They can not be that bad you know.” As Blake regained control of herself and let out a deep breath she turned around to face the silver-haired friend.

“First off, yes they can be. And second off, that never happened.” She pointed a finger at Weiss. She knew how much Blake hated losing her composure and so she just smiled. She, of course, wouldn’t make any promises though. She wanted to tease the raven-haired girl a bit in front of her girlfriend before she left and this only served to help.

“Alright, well how about you open the door and introduce me to the two lovely girls that are inside?” She said this with as little sarcasm as possible, which might have made Blake even more suspicious if her glare was anything to guess by.

She seemed to eventually get over it though as she turned around and finished unlocking her door and walking in. She took their jackets over to some hooks by the door, before leading the way deeper into the apartment.

“Yang! I’m back. And I brought my friend.” There were a few thumps and some scraping around before a tall girl with wild yellow hair scrambled into the room and ran straight for her. She could only think of how this would probably be a better way to die than to return to her father, before she was tackled with a world-class hug.

“Hey, there Ice queen! Nice to finally meet you! Name’s Yang Xiao Long!” She couldn’t breathe very well as Blake pried her from the golden-maned girl’s grasp. She heard some footsteps coming from behind Yang but didn’t pay it much heed until she heard a voice.

“Yang! What’s with all the noise? We’re supposed to try not to break Blake’s friend!” Weiss looked up as a familiar red-haired girl stepped around Yang.

“Oh! And this here is my baby sis-” She was quickly cut off and confusion sprouted forth.

“Ruby?!”

“Snow? You’re Blakes friend?”

“Weiss? You know Ruby?” Weiss’ face blanched at Blake calling her by her real name, while Blake quite visibly covered her mouth. They had all but forgotten that she had already been caught.

“Weiss? I thought her name was Snow?” Ruby looked confused. Yang, on the other hand, seemed like everything had started to click into place.

“Weiss… as in Weiss Schnee? The heiress gone missing?”

 

\------------

Weiss and Blake had gone through and explained everything to her and Yang a few times now, and they were obviously getting a bit annoyed. Even upset at her. Although she could understand why, since she had probably screwed up their entire way of life.

“So let me get this straight. You’re Weiss Schnee, the heiress to a massive corporation? And you ran away from home. And you’ve been living here for a few years, building up new a life? And then I came and pretty much just doomed you to go back to a place you’ve only had nightmares of returning to?”

“I was the heiress. My brother Whitley recently was named as the new heir to the corporation. Other than that little piece of misinformation, you managed to sum it up quite well.” Weiss responded quite dryly.

“If it put you in so much ‘danger’ than why did you let my lil’ sis paint you in the first place?” Yang asked in a semi-angry tone. She didn’t like it when people pinned all the blame on her sister.

“Oh, believe me, I’ve been trying to figure that out. And no need to be all haughty and upset. I’m not angry or blaming Ruby. Sure, I’m upset that she decided to put it in the museum of all places, but I’m the one who agreed to be painted.”

Yang seemed to visibly relax at that, which seemed to be what Weiss was aiming for. She could certainly tell that Weiss herself was very upset. And not just at her. Blake also seemed to notice this and decided to give them an opportunity to talk a bit more privately.

“Hey, Yang could you help me out in the kitchen? I think we should start getting the food ready.” After a suspicious look at Weiss and a glance for confirmation that she’d be okay, Yang agreed to help. This promptly left the two of them alone.

“Look I’m really sorry about all this, I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Weiss sighed at this and the energy that was left in her frame seemed to seep out.

“Yes, I can tell that, you dunce. And honestly? I don’t want to spend what’s most likely my last evening around bickering and blaming each other.” Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, something she had noticed Blake also did when Yang got on her nerves. That made her smile a little.

“Well, I mean I’m glad and all that we’re not going to argue about this… But I still feel really bad. Are you sure there’s nothing that can be done? I could probably get them to take the picture down?”

“It’s too late for that. He would’ve had someone visit the museum on opening night, or at least within the next few days after the opening.”

Ruby went quiet. She was a good chunk responsible for this whole mess and she really wanted to make it up to this girl. She was so deep in thought that she nearly missed the words that Weiss said next.

“You know, I’ve been quite a fan of yours for a while now. I used to go to the park to enjoy your sculptures. I even started to leave notes commenting on what I liked and how they helped brighten my days.” Weiss offered up a small smile as Ruby looked at her, quite shocked. 

She hadn’t just screwed up some random girls life, after all, she had screwed up the hard-won life of her favorite fan. Now she felt even worse. And not just for Weiss, but for herself as well. She would miss the little notes that she would get to read after putting out a sculpture.

“Hey, Weiss?” It was Blake that was calling for her. They shared a look before getting up and joining her in the kitchen. Both Blake and Yang were looking out the window at something.

“What is it, Blake?” Weiss definitely sounded worried as well.

“So… um… when you said that someone would be coming to pick you up… would the car that they arrive in happen to be a fancy black car with a giant white snowflake on it?” It was Yang that asked, as both the girls next to the window moved aside. A now very pale Weiss, even paler than usual, slowly walked up to the window and saw the car.

Ruby followed close behind and saw that there was indeed a car like Yang had described. It was parked in front of the apartment complex, taking up as much space as possible. It seemed that it had been there for a little bit, meaning the occupant was probably already almost here.

As if right on cue, there was knocking at the door. Everyone exchanged a few looks before Blake quickly, but gently, shoved Weiss in Ruby’s direction and hushedly spoke.

“Go hide in my room. In the closet, there’s a crawl space like area. I actually started renting this specific apartment because it’s one of the only ones that has something like this. Thought it might be useful to store… some books… you two should fit though.”

Ruby didn’t question it as she took hold of Weiss’ hand and practically dragged her to the room. She heard Blake approach the door, apologizing for making whoever it was wait. Ruby opened up the small area and pushed the books to the side.

‘At least we’ll have something to do while we wait?’

She crawled in and made room for Weiss to join her, but when she looked back at her the white-haired girl made no move to come in as well.

“Weiss, come on! You could get out of this whole situation if you just get in here!” Ruby hissed this out and grabbed the girls hand and tugged her down. Thankfully she didn’t offer too much resistance, although she did whisper out a reply.

“This won’t stop him from finding us. He probably has access to room design plans. And if he finds the two of us in here together…” She trailed off and Ruby guided her in anyway.

“Doesn’t matter. We’re at least going to try.”

Weiss sighed and compiled. She crawled in and squished herself up next to Ruby, who wasn’t bothered in the slightest by the close proximity. They moved around for a bit until they were comfortable, at which point Ruby grabbed one of the books and held it in front of them.

“We don’t know how long this will be so at least we have something to read?”

“Ruby… I really don’t think we want to be reading these books.” Weiss whispered while closely inspecting some of the books that surrounded them, using the light from their phones in order to read the titles and descriptions.

“Why’s that? Books are great!” Ruby quietly exclaimed this as she brought the book closer, although it couldn’t really get much closer if she was honest. She quickly read the title.

‘Ninja’s of Love Book 3: A Forbidden Love, in a Forbidden Place’

A quick look at the description and she was ‘throwing’ the book away from her, much to the amusement of Weiss. She had been right, Ruby wanted nothing to do with any of the books in here. No wonder they were hidden away from the light of day.

“I told you we wouldn’t want to be reading these books. It looks like they’re all… inappropriate… to say the least.” Weiss quietly laughed at that. And Ruby had to admit that she enjoyed the sound.

“Alright, you were right! But now what are we going to do? We could be in here for a while.”

Weiss had a thoughtful look on her face when the hidden door was pounded on none too gently, making both girls jump about as much as they could in the small space.

“Weiss Schnee! Ruby Rose! Open up and get out here.” The voice wasn’t necessarily loud, but it certainly was demanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?  
> Put them in the comments!  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> Because I enjoyed not knowing  
> what the heck I’m doing anymore! ^_^  
> (JK I have a general idea of what I’m doing)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 5

 

“Weiss Schnee! Ruby Rose! Open up and get out here.”

Weiss sighed. She had known that this wouldn’t work, but they had been found quicker than she originally thought they would though. The voice that called out was oddly familiar as well. Definitely not her father, as it was feminine. And it sounded very annoyed.

“Do not make me repeat myself, sister.”

At that, Weiss scrambled to get out. Winter was one of the only people Weiss even minutely trusted from her family, and Blake was well aware of that. Blake herself didn’t trust her but they didn’t know each other very well.

“One moment Winter!” She quickly chided herself for sounding even a bit excited.

Weiss squirmed around until she faced the door, accidentally hitting Ruby a few times. She muttered an apology towards the other girl a few times before she was finally at the small door. After a few attempts to get out, she came upon a worrisome discovery.

“Hey, Blake…”

“Something wrong Weiss?”

“You could say that. We are kind of stuck in here…” The crawl space door was jammed closed. Either that or it couldn’t be opened from the inside. She sighed. This seemed to be just her luck. Thankfully Blake understood her silent request for help and came over to assist. A few minutes later Weiss and Ruby were sitting on the living room couch with Blake and Yang sitting across the room. Winter was standing in front of her sister, and she did not look happy at all.

“So Weiss. Is there any reason in particular that I managed to find a certain painting in a certain museum’s public unveiling? I’m sure you’re familiar with that said painting.”

Weiss’ eyes dropped and Ruby's followed the suit. She had known that Winter had shown up because of that but she had hoped that they’d at least have a quick and happy reunion. Obviously, that wasn’t quite the case and her sister was, as always, straight to business.

“Actually, it wasn’t really Weiss’ fault that it ended up in the museum.” Ruby said this without a hint of hesitation, which surprised Weiss. It seems that it wasn’t quite what Winter expected either by the rise of her eyebrow.

“How so? In order to commission a painting of a person to be put in a museum one must first have the said person to consent to being painted.” Weiss sighed at Winter’s logical approach. She was, of course, correct in her course of thinking, and while she wasn’t necessarily happy that Ruby put the painting in the museum…. anyways, despite how she felt about the situation, she did know that this was her fault.

“Of course, and I did give my consent to being painted.” She still didn’t quite know why she had, but the fact of what happened still stands.

“But Weiss! I’m the one who put the painting in the museum without telling you!” Ruby once more spoke up. It was almost as if she was determined to make herself the culprit of the whole thing. Weiss couldn’t imagine why she would ever do that though.

“Speaking of that. Do you understand what exactly that entails?” Winter cut through what was sure to become a bickering match about who was at fault. Both girls immediately went quiet and found something else that was quite interesting to look at. Mainly, the floor.

“Yeah… Weiss told me the short version of what’s going to happen…” Ruby sounded very upset and the sound made Weiss’ heart ache a little, although she wasn’t quite sure why.

“I told her that due to fathers abundance of money and power that more than likely he, or someone who reports back to him, will see it soon. If they haven’t already. Although since you’re here, I’m sure they’ve already found it and you’ve just been tasked with bringing me home.” Weiss sighed.

“Yes, someone who reports directly to father is the one who saw the painting.” Winter stated this matter of factly, if not smugly.

“It’s just such a shame that the person who found it also happens to love her sister more than she loves her father.” Winter let off a small smile as Weiss’ head snapped up.

“Excuse me? So father doesn’t know where I am?” Weiss still didn’t get her hopes up. After all, even if Winter had been the one to see and find her and the picture, it was still possible that others could find it in the museum. Ruby just sat there, unsure whether to be happy or not.

“No he doesn’t, nor will he. I actually didn’t come here to talk to you, Weiss. In fact, I didn’t even know you were here. I came here to talk to Ms. Rose. Her neighbors, Sun and Neptune if I recall, told me she and her sister would be here for dinner tonight.”

“Me? Why did you want to talk to me? Were you planning on yelling at me because of this? Suing me? Did you plan to-” Weiss put her hand over Ruby’s mouth in order to stop what was obviously a panicked spewing of words. Ruby had made herself as small as she could during her rambling but slowly righted herself so she was sitting with at least a little dignity.

“Yes I did plan on yelling at you, but it seems as if you already understand what you did so that won’t be necessary. But for the most part, I came to say thank you. Your art is going to make a beautiful addition to my… personal art collection.”

Ruby and Weiss looked at her questioningly at the last part.

“What… What do you mean Winter?”

“What I mean, is that the painting is now my property. I bought it off the display the day after the opening for an absurd price. Father will question me about what I was buying, but thankfully I’ve always been a connoisseur of art. He won’t think too much on the fact that I bought an impressive painting off of the display.”

“So wait, does that mean Weiss is fine? You don’t have to bring her back to her… uh, father?” Ruby’s question started off really excited, but it quickly because nervous.

“From what Winter told us when we answered the door, the answer is a big fat N O.” Yang called out from the other side of the room. Weiss and Ruby had forgotten that Yang and Blake were still actually in the room, sitting quietly on the love seat.

“That’s why we let her in. She explained why she was here and so we... hesitantly showed her where you two were.” Blake added with a smile.

“You know… the fact that we were found so quickly makes a lot more sense now.” Weiss muttered to herself, although judging by the small giggle coming from next to her, she hadn’t muttered it quite as quietly as she’d thought. The giggling from Ruby did elicit a smile from her though.

“The… ah, blonde bimbo is correct.” Blake started laughing at Winters words and Weiss couldn’t help but smile at it.

“Hey!” Yang’s disagreement, on the other hand, went ignored by those in the room.

“You don’t have to return to father. Although you’ll do well to watch yourself, as well as what you do, from now on. Even though you already should have been doing such.”

“I’m sorry.” Weiss quickly apologized.

“Also, why did you decide to choose such a hiding spot anyways? You know that if father really wished to find you, that he would have the building layout and so would know of that spot right?” Winter was pointing out the very thing Weiss had tried pointing out earlier.

“Well you see, Blake uses that place for books and she told us to use it to hide and so we didn’t question it, or at least I didn’t, Weiss kinda did and said something similar to you and....” Ruby started trailing off.

“Yes, and speaking of books. The ones we found in there were very interesting, Blake.” Weiss had an almost invisible smirk while Blake averted her gaze with a blush. After taking a quick glance at Ruby, she noticed that the artist was also sporting a blush.

“What was so interesting about a bunch of books?” Yang, of course, hadn’t quite picked up. Blake obviously hadn’t told her about her little hobby yet, but Weiss planned to change that. Blake realized what was being planned and gave them a pleading look.

“Oh, nothing much… A few had topics based around swords and their respective sheaths, while others were talking about explorers to a new cave. Blake has a very wide choice of books that she reads.” Weiss added a wink to Yang, who was obviously catching on as her eyes were slowly widening.

“Blake… is she saying what I think she’s saying?” Yang was looking at Blake, who’s blush was growing by the minute and who was trying desperately to hide in a couch pillow. However, she did nod in response to the question.

“That’s awesome!” Yang leaned over and whispered something. Blake had lowered the pillow to hear what Yang was going to say, but she quickly threw it back up as her eyes went wide. Weiss had an idea as to what the now laughing Yang had said, and it was obvious that Blake still wasn’t fully comfortable with the girls' straightforward ways. Although she could also say that she wouldn’t fare any better.

“Well, I am going to have to see myself out, if this new topic is anything to judge by. It seems like there’s going to be a few… intimate activities going on soon enough.” Weiss jumped up when Winter spoke.

“Winter, wait!” Weiss went and gave her sister a hug. Her family had never been big on such things, but her sister definitely deserved this for everything she’d done for her.

“Thank you…”

“Of course Weiss. I will always be there to clean up your mess.” Winter teased Weiss as they shared the hug for a short while longer.

“I want a hug too…” Weiss barely heard the complaint that was said across the room, and it made her smile just a bit more. She knew that Ruby was the one that said it, but she didn’t move to do anything about what she had said. Not yet at least. She could get her hug at some other time. Even if she didn’t particularly deserve it after everything that had happened.

\----

Ruby sat off to the side, not quite content due to the lack of hugs she had gotten, but respectful. She reaaaally enjoyed hugs, but she usually didn’t grumble and gripe about not getting one. She had actually been quite surprised when she had done so out loud.

After Weiss saw Winter out and returned to sit next to her on the couch, they all just sat there. It felt very awkward, to Ruby at least. She didn’t really know how it felt for the others though. After what felt like forever, although, in reality, it was probably only a few minutes, Blake finally spoke up.

“Well… Now that that’s over, how about we finish up with our original plan? You know, dinner?” Blake asked this as she stood up, Yang quick to follow.

“That would be awesome!! C’mon Blakey I’ll help get the table set! I’m starving!” Yang nearly bolted to the kitchen as she said that. 

“I think we should probably join them, Ruby.” Weiss gave a small smile as she got up and followed Blake. Ruby was starving as much as Yang was, so she didn’t argue at all. Of course, she was going to happily go along with a plan involving food being eaten! Who wouldn’t?

“Do we have any cookies for dessert Blake? I feel like I’m in the mood for cookies. Maybe some milk to go with it. Aw, who am I kidding? Of course, we have to have milk with our cookies!” Blake hesitated, although Ruby didn’t really notice it as she was too busy salivating over the thought of cookies.

“Of course we have cookies. You know we never go eat at someone else’s house without bringing something of our own Rubes! It’s… uh… tradition!” Yang spoke with confidence up until the last sentence. Blake stares at her with a raised eyebrow, and Yang gives her a wink in return.

“Oh right! I forgot about that! How could I forget about our beloved cookies? Oh, Weiss, you’re going to love them! It’s my mom’s special recipe.” Ruby gave Weiss her best smile. She still felt bad about what nearly happened because of her, and so she was going to try and make it up to the platinum haired girl.

“You know, I am not exactly… big, on desserts and sweets. So that being said, I will not be having very many.” Weiss returned her smile, albeit smaller and more apologetic looking.

“More for us then, right Ruby?” Yang gave off one of her own brilliant smiles, which Ruby was only too happy to return.

“Yup!” Ruby replied cheerfully.

“Dinner first, you dorks.” Blake said as she brought out the food.

\---------

Dinner went on for about an hour, and Ruby could confidently say that it wasn’t as awkward as it could have been. Thankfully Yang and herself were very chatty, and so there was always something to talk about. Yang started the dinner by talking about how her BMXing was going, and Ruby would exaggerate all the cool stuff she could do on her bike.

Blake eventually expressed interest and Yang followed that up with an invite to her next big gig. All expenses paid of course, and the ticket would be to one of the better seats. Since she’d be the star of the show, she could pull out a couple VIP tickets for her big events. That was probably the only reason why Ruby could get into most of her events if they were being honest.

After that, Blake mentioned her newest book that was coming out, although she wouldn’t say anything. Weiss then mentioned how she was Blake’s editor and that she would vouch for this new book of hers is, yet again, a gem.

Ruby also barely touched on the topic of what she was working on, saying that she was working on a few new sculptures for her park collection. Weiss perked up and got quite happy upon hearing that. She asked what they would be, but Ruby decided that she wanted it to be a surprise for her. So she had told Weiss to meet her at the park on Monday and that she’d show her the first one in person.

After dinner had finished Yang had grabbed a plate full of cookies and they all headed towards the couch. They watched a movie together while snacking on them, and by the looks of it, Weiss enjoyed the cookies. Even if she would never admit it out loud.

After that, Ruby and Yang headed home to their shared apartment and Blake took Weiss back to hers. Now Yang was in her room, already on the phone with Blake. Meanwhile, Ruby was laying on her bed, thinking over the day that was coming to a close.

‘Well, things could have gone a lot worse. And thankfully Weiss isn’t too upset with me. Weiss… I really like that name actually… I hope I can make a friend out of her. I’m pretty sure I can with the way things are currently leaning towards.’

Ruby smiled to herself. The idea of being friends with Weiss made her quite happy. Then she remembered that Monday was a lot closer than she had realized. The smile quickly faded and she bolted over to her art room with the intent to finish the first sculpture so that it can dry out in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Looks like things turned out  
> Just fine! Whew.  
> What a relief right?  
> Now let's just hope Winter’s  
> Plan works as well as  
> Everyone hopes it will!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 6

 

Monday came and went by quickly. Weiss spent most of the day filling out paperwork and editing the latest draft of Blake’s new book. By keeping herself busy with all the work that was needed to get production and printing approved for Blake, Weiss was able to make everything go by in a blur.

She quickly put everything away and got ready to head to the park. It was almost the time that she had agreed to meet Ruby for her new sculpture. All Weiss had managed to learn about the sculpture from Ruby was the name. Ruby said she was going to call this one ‘Bumblebee’.

She quickly went outside and headed down the familiar path to the park. She hadn’t really been going there lately, as she had all but given up hope for actually being able to stay and continue enjoying her life here. She just hoped that she wouldn’t have to have any more mentally exhausting experiences to worry about for at least a little while.

Weiss turned off the well-worn path that leads to the main city park and headed down the smaller path that went to her usual side park. After glancing at her phone to check the time, she saw that she still had a few minutes before Ruby was supposed to show up. After a quick glance around, and not noticing the other girl, Weiss took a seat on a bench that faced the park entrance.

A few minutes passed by before someone nearly tackled her from behind, on the other side of the bench. She yelped out in surprise, before turning around and seeing a familiar face.

“Hey there Weiss! Long time no see!” Ruby said happily before quickly letting her go. She had an enormous smile on her face that almost melted Weiss’ annoyance. 

“Do not scare me like that! And do not use my name out in public!” She whispered the last part, not wanting someone to recognize her. She had just gotten out of this sort of trouble! She didn’t need this girl going around causing more problems already.

Ruby clamped a hand over her mouth, and a look of pure horror crossed her face. She looked around, hoping no one had heard what she had said.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I hadn’t thought that through! I just came out of the bathroom over there and saw you and I just got so excited that I just ran over here.” Ruby looked completely distressed with herself so Weiss just took her hand, which shut her up.

“Ruby, it is alright. Just try and avoid calling me by that name out in public from now on. I’m known as White here.” She quickly let her hand go after realizing that she had been holding it for an extended period of time. Ruby’s face had a small blush on it, but Weiss was to busy trying to hide her own in order to notice it.

They both stood there awkwardly for a little while before Weiss noticed the dog that was laying next to them both. She crouched down to pet it with a smile.

“Why hello there, what’s your name?” That broke Ruby out of her own awkward little bubble, and she took a seat next to them both.

“His name is Zwei! He’s my dog and I thought it would be nice for him to get out and have fun at the park. You know, burn off some of that excess energy or something like that.”

“Well, he looks pretty mellow to me. And very cute if I may say.” Zwei’s tail was wagging happily as Weiss scratched under his chin.

“That’s probably because he’s spent the last hour running around like a maniac.” Ruby joined in on the petting as well. Weiss’ eyebrows furrowed a bit at her words though.

“How long have you been waiting for me to show up?”

“Waiting for you to show up? Eh, not very long. How long have I been here at the park? About an hour and a half in total. I took Zwei on a nice long walk on a few of the paths before settling down here so he could run around freely.”

Weiss gave off a hum. She found it acceptable and relieving that Ruby hadn’t really been waiting for her too much. She looked around after she remembered her whole reason for meeting up with Ruby.

“So… Where is your latest sculpture? I believe you owe me a personal presentation on it.” Weiss gave her a smirk as she leaned in expectantly. Ruby leaned back and gave off a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well… about that. I kinda didn’t actually manage to finish it…” Ruby nervously replied. Weiss frowned a little, quite disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see her newest creation.

“Well… I can’t say I am not a little upset. I was looking forward to seeing it. But I suppose there is not much we can do about it.” Weiss sighed before leaning back and resting on her hands.

“Yeah… sorry about that.”

“Well, we are both here so we might as well talk and spend a bit of time together right?” Weiss asked hoping the other girl wasn’t about to leave.

“It’s the least I can do since I’m kinda the one that said we should meet here.” Ruby laughed and gave off one of her brilliant smiles. Weiss seemed to start melting. A large part of this seemed to come from the liquid silver that was this girl's beautiful eyes. She couldn’t help but return the smile.

“So, have you talked to the museum yet?” Weiss asked, her smile slowly dissipating when she saw Ruby’s look of confusion.

“Why would I talk to the museum? They haven’t asked me to make them a new painting yet.” Ruby tilted her head a to the side a bit. It was an adorable look, but Weiss had other things to worry about it seemed. Weiss sighed.

“Winter bought your painting. And because you made the painting and had it put on display there, you are legally able to claim a percentage of those finances. It would be part of a contract that you would sign upon accepting the job.” Ruby’s eyes widened as she went to pull out her phone.

“Should I call them now? If I do will you help me talk to them? Cuz… Uh well, I’m not big on this whole ‘confrontation’ thing…” Weiss gave her an encouraging smile.

“Of course. The sooner the better. And yes, I would be more than happy to help.” Ruby returned her smile and began to call the museum. A good 20 minutes or so passed before she had someone to talk to about her painting.

“So how much was it sold for?”

“...”

“Are you being serious about this? Alright, well how much do I have legal claim over?”

“...”

“Okay, so I can claim up to 65% of the funds from something like this?

“...”

“Alright well, I’d like to only take around 45. The museum needs funds as well amirite?” Ruby laughed.

“...”

“Yes, please have it in my account by this weekend.”

Ruby hung up the phone after she managed to finish the call. Weiss had been there to help all the way and had been sorely needed at the beginning. However, by the end of the call, Ruby had been able to handle herself quite well.

“So, it turns out your sister paid a lot of money for my painting. Enough where Yang and I can live quite comfortably without working if we spent it wisely. Which Yang won’t.” Ruby gave a happy laugh before giving Weiss a quick hug.

“You only took, what, 45% though. Why did you take that instead of the 65% you could have taken?” Weiss was curious as to why Ruby had done that, but instead of an answer, she gave a shrug.

“Well, either way, I plan to keep these funds more separate from our normal finances. You know, for emergencies or special events.” Ruby looked thoughtful as Weiss just nodded.

“Actually, I feel like I owe you. You know, since I dragged you out here with a promise of a sculpture that I didn’t deliver, and now that you helped out with this.” 

“No, no it is fine Ruby. Do not worry about it.” Ruby thought for a few moments, or at least looked like she was until she gave her a mischievous smile.

“Nope! I’m gonna make it up to you! And so, would you, Snow, be willing to allow me, Ruby Rose, to take you to dinner this Saturday?” Ruby smiled brilliantly and gave her a playful bow, or what probably counted as one since they were both still seated. Weiss couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Of course I would. Dinner sounds great. It would definitely help us get to know each other better and become proper friends too.” Both of their smiles widened just a bit at that.

“Oh! Also, could I get your number? I’ll let you know when I’ll come to pick you up. Also, since we have all this money, we’ll be going to a nicer restaurant. Not a mega fancy one though. Some people there might notice you.” Ruby beamed at her and held out her phone. Weiss gladly put her number in it.

“No. That would end badly indeed. And since my sister is not going to be around this time, there would not be much I could do to get out of the spotlight.” Ruby sent her a quick text after she was returned her phone.

“Yeah. So we’ll avoid places where you could stand out. Anywhere I should take note of for the future?”

“The arena, or any place frequented by those who will be watching it this year. I used to teach some people swordplay so those competing in the Vytal Festival Tournament this year might recognize me.”

“Oh yeah, good thing you told me. Otherwise, I might’ve taken you to one of the more popular restaurants for dinner. Or dragged you to the tournament with me. Always been a fan of it, but this will be my first time going in person! Been saving what I can so I could get a ticket.” Weiss smiled.

“Well, this year one of my better pupils should be joining the tournament. If you make any bets on the first round, make sure you bet for him. His name is Seraine. I do not know what team he has managed to find but he is the best I was ever able to train before I left.” Weiss smiled with pride. She was confident that her pupil would do well.

“I don’t plan to make any bets, but I’ll definitely keep that in mind!” Ruby’s phone started to go off and after a moment's hesitation, she answered it. After a few seconds of being talked to, she replied with a quick ‘alright’ before hanging up.

“So my sister just called, and apparently she needs me home for some sort of possible family emergency that could be coming up soon. I’ll see you later?” She looked at her apologetically.

“It’s alright. Just text me when you get home safe. I hope things don’t go too bad though.” Weiss gave a soft smile, one that Ruby returned with interest before running off with Zwei.

“Well… guess I should start heading home now shouldn’t I?” Weiss stood up and started walking down the path as well. After getting back onto the street she turned towards her home and started walking. She accidentally walked into a very large and thickly built man as she rounded a corner.

“Sorry, I did not mean to run into you. My apologies…” She moved passed the large man, his tall lanky friend, and their two female companions. She quickly froze when she heard a familiar voice.

“Weiss…? Is that you?”

She sighed. Couldn’t she get a break?

\-------

Ruby was both worried and a bit upset. She was having a good time at the park with Weiss and poof! Something happens and she has to leave! But on the other hand, Yang said it was a family emergency, or that it was likely to turn into one soon. So what happened that would constitute as a family emergency?

Maybe Yang was kidding? She did enjoy her practical jokes, but she had a feeling this wasn’t one of them. They had lost too much family and close friends to joke about even the possibility that something could be like that. I mean really, first there was mom, then there was Raven. And more recently there was the accident that dad got in but thankfully managed to survive relatively unscathed. Penny and Pyrrha hadn’t been so lucky though.

Ruby slowly came to a stop as she remembered those two. They had been having so much fun together that day. Tears were now rolling down Ruby’s cheeks. She started running again, determined to be there before anything happened. That didn’t stop her from thinking about what could be wrong.

Her unhappiness at being taken from the park was quickly being turned into unhappiness at the prospect of whatever it was she had to face. Who was it that would be in trouble? Could dad have gotten into another accident again? Maybe something happened to Blake. Yang really cared about her, and so did Ruby. So that would probably count as a family emergency…

Could it be that Qrow’s stupid stunts finally caught up to him? He did do some pretty dangerous things for that stupid video channel of his, Bad Luck Charm, or whatever he called it.

Speaking of Qrow, could it be his sister, Raven? Maybe she popped up out of the blue. Yang didn’t really care for her and if she somehow pissed Yang off, then she could see this as being an emergency. Although it is a good thing that she’s putting in an effort for Yang after all these years. Even if she was still a jerk to literally everyone, be it Yang, Ruby, or their father.

Eventually Ruby made it back to their apartment. She slowed down to catch her breath before walking through the door, expecting the worst. She didn’t see anyone around the house at first glance though.

“Yang?! Where are you?”

“Hold up, I’ll be there in a moment.” Came Yang’s muffled shout. Only a few minutes later they were both sitting on the living room couch. Ruby’s eyes were filled with concern as she stared at Yang.

“So… What’s this whole ‘family emergency’ thing you were talking about?”

“Well, it hasn’t escalated into an emergency yet. But if things get out of hand than we might have a serious problem.” Yang calmly stated this. She knew that if she wasn’t calm about this than Ruby would go ballistic.

“Alright… Well, what’s going on then?” Yang sighed and looked away from Ruby and out the window. She knew that Ruby probably wouldn’t be elated to hear her news, but someone had to tell her.

“It’s Qrow. He’s done something stupid again. Or is in the middle of doing it at least.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> Dang I guess I can’t just   
> Give them a little bit of   
> Peace and quiet to enjoy  
> Some friendship now can I?  
> Sigh, what to do what to do?  
> Hehe, find out next week!  
> ^_^


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 7

Weiss sat at the table inside her apartment with the 4 people she had run into earlier. The most menacing of the figures stood around 6 feet and 7 inches tall and was extremely well built. He was a broad man with choppy black hair and cyan colored eyes. He had the stance of a well-trained combatant and she wouldn’t be surprised if he was a participant of the Vytal Tournament - one of the only places where uninhibited fighting was allowed in present days.

Then there were the 2 girls, both were lithe and fast looking. The first one had been quiet so far and the almost completely black and lightweight outfit said she was either quite the emo, kind of like Blake, or was used to faster forms of combat. She was about average height, being around 5 foot 8 inches or so. Her eyes were green and her hair was an orange that faded into a pearlescent white.

The other girl was much shorter than the rest, around Weiss’ height. But she looked no less dangerous than the rest of her company. Her hair was a dark purple color that traveled to her sternum and she wore a robe that was covered in golden etchings. Her eyes were a dull grey as if she were born blind. She noticed Weiss’ inspection of everyone and flashed her a friendly smile. Weiss returned it nervously.

But it was the last person, the person who called out her name, that held her attention. A man that stood around 6 foot himself and that had dirty blonde hair and a dark blue beanie on his head that matched his eyes. He wore a white button-up shirt and a blue scarf, vest, and jeans to go along with his beanie. He was the only one that Weiss was able to recognize, and his name made her a bit nervous.

“So, Seraine… it has been a while has it not?” Weiss finally broke the silence, not really knowing what to say and just hoping that he wasn’t here because of her father. He snorts and lets out a laugh.

“That’s an understatement. You kinda just disappeared a few years ago. Didn’t even say goodbye to your favorite student.” He said it, obviously feeling a bit hurt about it. The orange haired girl snickered at him.

“Hey, shut it, Angel! She was one of the few friends I had back then!” Seraine threw his beanie at her, much to her obvious amusement.

“You had friends? That’s a surprise.” The first words out of this ‘Angel’ girl's mouth was meant to tease Seraine, and it put her at ease a bit. She was still wary of these people but so far it looked like they weren’t after her. The purple haired girl seemed to notice her lack of trust towards them as she leaned over to whisper something in her ear.

“Hey, don’t worry too much. We don’t have any plans to take you back to your father. We were never his biggest fans, to begin with. Plus you seem to be on Seraine’s good side so, you know, even more reason not to.” She flashed another smile at her before pulling away.

“Anyways, it’s good to see you again Weiss. I was a bit worried for a while. Thought something bad had happened. Although I will admit, I was kind of glad to hear that you had run off. You weren’t exactly living in the best place.” He gave her a smile of her own and a thumbs up. It seemed like everyone was all happiness and smiles. Except for the big dude.

“Sorry that you got worried. But anyways, I believe you have some introductions to do. And maybe a reason as to why I should believe that you aren’t going to bring me back to Atlas?” She trusted Seraine, but only to a degree.

“Oh, right! This is my team for the tournament! I’d like you to meet, Team VVAS!” Weiss gave him a curious look, trying to make it obvious that she didn’t really understand what he was getting at.

“It’s uh… well, we took the first letters of our names and formed a team name. Viskrio is the big quiet guy here, and Violet is the one sitting next to you. They make up the V’s of the name.” Violet once more leaned over to whisper to her.

“Don’t let Viskrio intimidate you too much. He just doesn’t really know how to deal with people.” Weiss smiled a little at her words as Violet giggled to herself. Viskrio rolled his eyes but finally let out a small smile, somehow knowing what the girl had said.

“Then we have Angel! Who, I’m pretty sure, I’ve already mentioned. Speaking of which, can I have my beanie back now?” Angel leaned back in her chair and gave him a look of pure innocence.

“What beanie? If I recall correctly I already returned it to you.” The smile that crept onto her face didn’t help convince anyone and Seraine gave a sigh before shaking his head.

“And lastly there’s me as the S. Team VVAS, or pronounced as Vaise if you want to just say it as a word.” He looked quite proud of himself at that. Weiss looked around the table and saw that they were all smiling at her in a friendly manner.

“Well, it is nice to meet you all.” Her own smile that she had been wearing faded.

“And what about my second question?”

“As to why you should trust us not to turn you over to your father? C’mon Weiss, you know better than anyone why I detest Jaquass.” Weiss couldn’t help but let a smile escape at his apt use of her father’s nickname.

“I trust that you wouldn’t do that, yes. But what about these other three?”

“Eh, we’re a close-knit group. We’ve been working together for around 2 years and I trust them. I can’t really tell you their stories as to why they wouldn’t turn you over. But I wouldn’t have approached you if I didn’t trust them.”

Weiss nodded slowly and eyed the rest of the group. She, of course, didn’t really trust them still. But she was willing to give them a chance. They would have to thank Seraine for that later though.

“Alright. Well, then how about you tell me about yourselves? Such as what you’ll all be contributing to the tournament, or how you all met.” Weiss gave them all a formal smile to make the question seem friendlier than her tone may have allowed.

“Angel was the one I met first so maybe she should go first?” Seraine suggested. The girl he mentioned let out an overly exaggerated sigh.

“I suppose I could humor you. So, I’m not going to get too personal but as for what I’ll be contributing to the tournament? I’m mostly a ranged fighter. I was professionally trained to use an AS50 BMG sniper. So in the qualifiers, I’ll be firing one of those.” Angel did a little finger gun at Weiss with a wink. Weiss nodded back thoughtfully. Violet leaned in close to speak next.

“I taught myself how to use a Bo-Staff when I was younger. When I was skilled enough I then moved onto a bladed version. That’s what I’ll be qualifying in.” Weiss was a bit skeptical as to how well this girl would do when she was only self-taught but she kept her opinion to herself for now. She especially found the girls’ eyes to be a bit unnerving. It almost seemed like she was blind…

“Violet here is also blind and nearly mute in case you were wondering. That’s why she’s been so soft-spoken, and why her eyes are a bit odd.” Violet smiled nodded and smiled happily as Seraine answered her unasked question about the girl.

“I’ll be qualifying in melee combat with Seraine.” Viskrio quietly and quickly surmised what he would be doing. He then stood up and nodded to Angel and Violet.

“We’ll be outside. If you need us just call.” He then proceeded to leave the room with Angel and Violet following behind him. Weiss eyed them curiously, still not knowing what to think of all of them.

“He’s kind of the unspoken leader of the group. He doesn’t talk much but he knows what he’s doing.” Seraine smiled at Weiss when he finished speaking.

“They seem like… good people.” That was all Weiss could really say at this point in time, and thankfully Seraine seemed to realize that.

“They are. So don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone where you are. You know how to contact me if you ever need any help though. Just ask and we’ll be there! Me and my team. We all got your back.” Seraine gave her a wink before standing up to leave as well.

“It was nice seeing you again.” Weiss said.

“Likewise. I hope next time comes around sooner than this time did. Anyways we have to go finalize our entry forms for the tournament. Cya some other time Weiss.” He walked out the door, leaving Weiss to her chaotic thoughts.

That had been a lot to handle at once. There had been a lot of turmoil these past few days and it seemed that mentioning it more did not help. She’d have to keep that in mind.

Weiss let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair, glad to finally be alone. She still felt nervous, after all, she had been found yet again. Hopefully, things didn’t make a turn for the worse with whoever found her next, because it definitely seemed like this was bound to keep happening.

\--------

Ruby sat on the couch with Yang. They were both bent over their knees rubbing their temples. Neither of them was really able to do much but they still sat there and worried over their dear uncle. He was an idiot, a drunk, and had the worst luck on the planet, but he was still their uncle and they loved him dearly. Although going around and getting into fist fights with Generals in the military, even if they were old friends, was certainly pushing what little luck he had.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Ruby worriedly asked Yang, for probably the hundredth time that day. She didn’t know whether she should be pissed or upset at Qrow next time they saw him, which would hopefully be soon.

“If he is then he won’t be when I’m done with him. If not… well, in that case, we’ll be there for him when he finally wakes up from the coma he got himself into.” Yang started off with a joking tone but quickly became more serious.

“Do you think he got arrested or something…? He did attack a General…” Ruby quietly asked in response. Yang ran her hands through her hair, something she did whenever she got stressed or was ‘guilty’ of something. Like eating her cookies.

“I would hope not. He did say that they were old friends. And Qrow may be an idiot but he’s not stupid. If you understand what I’m saying. But I won’t lie to you, Rubes… things aren’t exactly looking great for our uncle right now.”

Ruby sighed despondently before glancing through an open door and at a nearby table that held a couple of her different projects. Amongst them was a partially crafted rose that could be hung, a sketch of a lush and forested valley that had massive plants and was surrounded by rocky mountains and flatlands, and a petal from her mother’s favorite rose bush. 

Her gaze went to the petal. It had been crystallized long ago and she had turned it into a pendant, one that Ruby almost constantly wore. The only reason it hadn’t been worn lately is due to the meticulous cleaning that Ruby lavished upon it when the occasion demanded.

She sighed again, before getting up and walking into the room with all her projects in order to distract herself. She quickly got to work cleaning her necklace with care. If she wasn’t careful then the whole thing could break. At least she thought it could. Either way, she didn’t want to risk it.

After finishing with that, she returned it to its rightful spot, which would be around her neck. After that was complete, she returned to where Yang was sitting, to find her intently watching something on her phone.

“Whatcha doing sis?” Ruby was genuinely curious, as it both sounded and looked to be something action oriented. Although it wasn’t turned up loud and she didn’t have a clear view so she didn’t know for sure. And she definitely didn’t want to pry into Yang’s business.

“It’s a recorded file from Qrow. Take a wild guess at what it’s about.” That immediately piqued Ruby’s interest as she plopped down next to her sister and leaned over to watch. Yang dutifully restarted the video for her.

‘Qrow. How did you manage to drag me into this fool of an errand anyway.’ 

That was most definitely Raven speaking. Yang obviously knew based on how her nose crinkled at the sound of her voice.

‘Well seeing as the person that usually records my misguided attempts at satisfying the public’s need to see misfortune and idiotic stunts refused to come along with me, I had to pull one of those favors you owe me. So stuff it with the complaining and let's go.’

And great, that was Qrow alright. In all his excessively drunk glory. And he obviously wasn’t in the mood for Raven and her crap. He had probably been dealing with her for a while, what with the need to first find her and then to travel to wherever this was. Which seemed to be Atlas, but Ruby wasn’t quite sure.

Qrow and Raven never got along too well after the disappearance of said sister. Since their father and uncle had always gotten along quite well, Qrow had stayed around while Raven left behind everyone in her current life. She only recently came back but refused to completely commit to being in her daughter’s life again.

Nobody, except Qrow, knew exactly where Raven had run off to either. And he, oddly enough, kept that to himself. He would only say that it was an unsavory place. Probably the exact same place they had both been raised. Yang personally thought that meant she had been in Vacuo. It had been known to be a bit on the lawless side until recently when government officials had stepped in.

They both sat and watched the video. Eventually, it ended with both parties going to the hospital. Luckily it was the public hospital and not one on the inside of a jail. The General that had gotten into a fight with Qrow, someone by the name of Ironwood it sounded like, had told all soldiers in attendance to stand down and proceeded to accept the issued challenge.

The entire video then skipped to a scene in the hospital, where both men were sitting on the edge of their beds. They were both bandaged and bruised but neither seemed bothered by it. After a few moments of talking, useless banter and whatnot for the video, Qrow got serious.

‘Yang. Rubes. I’m going to be sending you the unedited version of the video. I know you two are probably worried out of your minds right now. Or pissed off. Either way, I know I’m going to hear quite the scolding.’

Both men laughed at that.

‘I just want to let you know that I’m perfectly fine. No charges pressed, no medical bills that James here won’t pay for me -’

‘Excuse me?’

‘And no permanent damage. So I’ll be home in Vale soon enough. Love ya kiddos and I’ll see you soon.’

The video cut off there and both girls let out an exhausted sigh. Qrow was right. He wasn’t going to hear the end of it any time soon. But at least they knew he was okay. That meant that they could both finally relax and get some rest. Ruby stood up and headed towards the kitchen. First things first. Food, and then sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Hey at least everyone and everything is fine!  
> And hope you all enjoyed meeting  
> VVAS! You’ll see them in other stories  
> So that should be fun!  
> (In fact, Violet already popped up  
> In one of my one-shots.  
> Although she was a bit different  
> Since it was in the more currently cannon  
> RWBY-verse)  
> Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> E/N:  
> ??  
> \- Sky
> 
> (Seems my editor got lost and is now confused...)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 8

Weiss’ phone buzzed in her pocket, causing her to smile. Only two people ever texted her on her personal phone, and one of them texted much more often than the other. That would always lead her to believe that it was that person who caused the buzzing in her usually silent and still pockets. She quickly pulled it out and checked her messages and was once more delighted by who it was.

‘So we’re still good for dinner tonight, right?’ Ruby asked through text. After her run-in with her old… friend… she had only been able to wait a few hours before her concern ended up emerging and building up. She hadn’t lasted very long after the nervous pacing had started and before quickly she was asking Blake for Ruby’s number.

After squeezing the number out of her somewhat reluctant-to-comply, friend, she quickly asked the artist if the emergency was as dire as it had sounded. She didn’t get a reply for a few more hours, but eventually, a reply had come through. Ruby had told her that everything had turned out fine, but she might end up being arrested for strangling her uncle one of these days.

Weiss was initially worried about that comment but that worry quickly became one of amusement when she realized that the other girl was joking around. After that, they started talking about other, more mundane things. The days had passed by rather quickly since then, which caught her off guard with how unexpectedly it happened.

But now it was the weekend, and apparently, the emergency with Ruby’s uncle hadn’t changed the girls' decision to treat her to dinner. Weiss quickly typed out an affirmative response in her message before sending it and returning the phone to her pocket. If she was going to dinner with Ruby then she should pick out an outfit.

Weiss hummed a light and happy tune as she looked through her closet. She wasn’t going to lie, she was very excited about tonight. After all, it had been a long time since she had gone out and gotten dinner with anyone other than Blake. At least not as a friend that is. She’d gone on a few dates, had a few business dinners, and had done a few other things of the such. But the only friend she ever ate with had been Blake.

Her humming died down a bit at the thought of Blake. They hadn’t really seen much of each other as of late and it was actually kind of sad. They used to spend quite a bit of time together but ever since Yang came along Blake has been stopping by a lot less frequently. But thankfully she had Ruby now! So while those two are out doing things that she, hopefully, never heard about, the two of them could get to know each other.

Weiss’ smile was back in full force as she pulled out an outfit that she believed would work well for dinner. It was a simple yet nice white skirt with blue accents. There was a matching top to go with it and a pair of light blue leggings and shoes to complete the outfit. She inspected the outfit for a bit before deciding that it would look nice enough to impress Ruby, but not so formal as to make the girl uncomfortable should she decide not to dress up. And it wouldn’t make her uncomfortable if the same thing were to occur.

She wasn’t quite sure why she wanted to impress Ruby, but she just filed that thought away for now. She would think about it later and would return to what she had been working on since she still had a quite a few hours until she had to get ready. Now, what was it that she was working on beforehand? Editing right? Well, if not, then she certainly did need to work on it anyways. Although, the fact that she couldn’t remember what she had been doing before Ruby had texted her worried her a bit and her face started to reflect that.

Her phone buzzed again, making whatever it was she had been worrying about dissipate as a smile formed on her lips once more. She pulled it out to see that it was indeed Ruby, who was happily going on about their dinner plans. She quickly glanced at what she had been editing. It had taken absolutely no time at all for her to decide that editing wasn’t what she’d spend the next few hours doing.

Weiss walked to her living room and sat on the couch she had before responding to a certain… friend. A friend that she couldn’t wait to see. Weiss hesitated a bit. They hadn’t really known each other for very long, and Weiss specifically didn’t have a ton of friends. So she wondered… was it too early to call Ruby a friend? She was nervous about tonight. But she was also sure that they were friends. Or at least she was sure, as long as she didn’t start second-guessing herself.

\------------

Ruby was leaning over her little workbench. She had a chair she could use or even a stool, but she always ended up standing while she worked. She worked with the delicate piece of art with deft hands, making small changes at a time. The piece she worked on was a rose, one that was meant to go in a hanging garden. She didn’t have one, but maybe she could sell it… although it would be a shame to sell something like this.

Ruby set the flower down and leaned back, blowing her hair out from in front of her eyes as she sat down. She pulled up the rose petal that hung from around her neck and gave off a small smile at the sight of it before her mind started to wander. Eventually, she began to think about what had happened on Monday.

There was that whole thing with Qrow and all the worry and stress that had gone with that. Although, she had also spent some time with Weiss a bit before everything had taken a turn for the worse. If she remembered correctly, they had planned to go to a dinner together this weekend… which was only how long away now? Ruby quickly grabbed her phone to look at the date. Today. The weekend was today.

Ruby quickly pulled up Weiss’ contact information and hesitantly asked if they were still planning on going through with dinner. She hadn’t really told Weiss what had happened after she left the park and she kinda wanted to talk to her in person about it. She had a smile on her face that put the sun to shame when she read Weiss’ response.

‘I would greatly enjoy being able to attend a lunch with you, Ruby.’

Weiss had even put a little smiley face at the end of her text. It was the first emoji she had seen the other girl use and it did wonders for her already high level of happiness. She walked as quickly as she could to her room. She couldn’t go too fast or Yang would yell at her about running in the house. Which sucked, because walking was so slow sometimes.

After pulling out her black and red skirt and corset, Ruby worked on her reply to Weiss. It took a few minutes but eventually, she had a response that didn’t seem too… weird. Or at least she hoped it didn’t. Sometimes she couldn’t tell. But Yang said it was all part of her charm. She started to smile at that before sitting down at her workbench again. Her smile only grew when she got another response from Weiss.

She pulled out her phone and looked at it for a bit. Then she looked at her projects. She sighed and stood up again with her phone, not actually bothered in the least. She wouldn’t get any work done for now, but there were still a few hours left until dinner. And thankfully, she had the perfect plan on how to spend it.

Ruby grinned happily as she laid on the couch staring up at her phone. It might not seem like the best plan to spend her day, but it certainly felt like it was the best plan. She was very excited and very nervous to see Weiss again, especially for dinner. She wasn’t going to lie. She knew precisely what kind of feelings were blossoming for the other girl. She just hoped it was the same kind of attraction that had Yang experienced… 

Okay so maybe not that kind, but still. She knew that she was attracted to the platinum-haired girl. She would give it a bit of time though. Maybe it would go away. Or maybe it would continue to blossom, and Weiss would feel it too…

Ruby’s thoughts were interrupted as her phone fell out of her hands and smacked her right in the face. After flinching from the shock she let her hands fall to her sides, not even bothering to move the phone as she sighed. Feelings were difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> So first off, I’d like to talk a bit more   
> about VVAS (The OC’s)  
> So last week was their 3 year birthday  
> and I wanted to do something to celebrate  
> in a way. So I added them to my story!  
> We’ll see where their presence leads!  
> Second off, I’d like to apologize for the  
> short chapter. I haven’t been feeling well  
> these past few days and before that  
> I was having an off week. But I did my best and was  
> able to come up with a half chapter!  
> Also, I kinda suck with this whole  
> ‘emotion’ thing so hopefully things turn out okay!  
> If not I’m sure Sky will either help me fix it  
> or smack me over the head until I figure  
> out how to fix it on my own lol.   
> Anyways, enjoy!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!  
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 9

Weiss stood in front of her mirror in order to finish getting ready for the night. She wasn’t quite sure where Ruby was going to take her to dinner, but she wanted to make sure she looked nice no matter where it was. All she really knew about what they were going to do was that Ruby had promised that it would be a ‘gourmet’ restaurant. Although frankly, these days gourmet could mean a variety of different things. And not all of them matched what she thought of the term.

She stood back to look at the finished product of her hard work and hummed. She had been doing that a lot today she noticed. Feeling satisfied with the results, she pulled her phone from her purse and sent Ruby a text. She was waiting to get picked up and she wasn’t sure if the other girl would get lost trying to find her apartment. It was a little out of the way after all… 

Her phone buzzed in response to her inquiry.

‘I think I’m pulling into the parking lot right now? I’m not sure though if I’m completely honest…’

She smiled at the reply before grabbing everything she needed, which was actually not much. As she walked through the door leading out to the hall she let Ruby know that she was on her way down. After making sure the door was locked and she had her key she made her way down to the lobby. Her phone buzzed again right before she walked outside.

‘Uhhh so I’m pretty sure you don’t live someplace called Vale Bakery… So I don’t think I’m in the right place’

Weiss didn’t quite know whether to smile and laugh at that or to sigh and roll her eyes. So instead of doing either of them she stood there and stared at her phone and considered what she should say. She knew where the Vale Bakery was, of course. It was one of the most well-known bakeries in all of Vale, even if it was quite expensive. But that being said, it was also quite a long ways from her apartment complex as well.

‘So was I close or is my inner GPS as screwed up as my sisters?’

At that, Weiss did smile. It also gave her an idea as to how she should respond. So she quickly replied by letting her know that the bakery was halfway across town along with directions to get to her place from there. After that, she went and sat in a chair located in the lobby as she resumed her quiet humming.

A good amount of time passed by before Ruby arrived. Although Weiss couldn’t tell exactly how long it was as she had been busy texting Blake while she waited, she knew it couldn’t have been more than 15 or 20 minutes. She was in the middle of reading a text from Blake when Ruby said she was out front. Blake had been saying something about not worrying too much about dinner and whatnot, but Weiss ignored half the message in order to walk outside.

Weiss looked around for a few moments and didn’t see a car waiting for her. So she pulled her phone out once more as her brow furrowed in concern. She sent a quick text to Ruby to ask her where she was and almost instantly she heard a phone chime from behind her.

Weiss spun around to find Ruby smiling widely at her with a twinkle in her eyes. The other girl giggled at her when she jumped at her unexpected closeness. After taking a moment to gather her wits and breath Weiss crossed her arms and frowned with feigned displeasure. Ruby obviously noticed this as she gave her a quick wink before speaking.

“To answer your question, I’m standing right here Ice Queen.” Weiss pursed her lips at the sound of that nickname. She never liked it but the fact that Ruby used it hurt just a bit. A nickname such as that pops up when a person is cold and doesn’t care about others, something Weiss believed she wasn’t.

“Please do not call me that Ruby. I am not quite as cold as that name implies.” Weiss gave a small smile at the end of her comment, hoping that the other girl would take her request to heart. She believed her chances of that happening were quite good if Ruby’s creased brow was anything to judge by.

“Cold as in uncaring? That’s not what I meant when I said that I promise! Blake just calls you that on occasion and I thought it was ‘cause of, you know, your name? And you sound kinda ‘proper’ when you speak so-”

Weiss cut off her rambling explanation before Ruby could get to fired up about it. What she said made her feel a bit better and she had a small smile on her mouth when she put two fingers to Ruby’s lips to shush her.

“Ruby. It is all right. You do not have to explain yourself. Although it is nice to know that you do not think I am a cold person.” Weiss let out a small and light-hearted laugh and removed her hand. Ruby didn’t speak for a few more moments and Weiss realized that she had a bit of a blush gracing her cheeks. The realization made her smirk to herself. She found it enjoyable to elicit such a reaction from the other girl.

“A-anyways, we should get going. I did promise you dinner didn’t I?” Ruby gently grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her in the direction of her parked car. Upon reaching the car she let go of Weiss in order to open the door for her, causing Weiss to smile once more at the kind gesture. This evening was looking like it would be quite enjoyable for her.

\------

Ruby fell onto her bed face first, sighing loudly in happiness. She considered tonight to have been immensely successful and she was quite happy with everything that had occurred. She was sure Weiss had enjoyed herself as well. In fact, she should just ask her just to double check.

Ruby quickly pulled out her phone and pulled up Weiss’ information. After a few moments, she had typed out her inquiry and had her thumb hovering over the send button. She breathed in and out shakily before squeezing her eyes shut and clicking the send. A few seconds later she relaxed, realizing that the worst part was already over. Hopefully. Her phone buzzed and she looked down.

‘Of course I enjoyed myself, you dolt.’

Her message contained a smiling emoji, which let Ruby know that the term ‘dolt’ was meant lightheartedly. She assumed that it wasn’t that bad anyways. Although she had no clue what it was actually supposed to mean either. She smiled herself as she quickly got another message.

‘I enjoy spending time with you, Ruby, and if you are willing, I would like to do so again sometime.’

Ruby’s smile only grew as she read the message. She didn’t know what she’d done, but she’d done something right if Weiss had fun and still wanted to be around her. Because believe it or not, people don’t usually stick around oddly enough. Although she did have a decent size circle of friends now. She should thank Yang for that because, without her sister, she never would’ve met them.

Ruby quickly refocused on her current task. She needed to find an excuse to be with Weiss again. Maybe dinner again? No, she should try and pick something different. An arcade? Didn’t seem like something Weiss would enjoy though. Maybe…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Zwei barreled into the room and pounced on her. He was hyper and excited. That was always something that happened when he got back from a walk, so she wasn’t too surprised. Although him getting back from a walk so late at night gave her questions… But it also gave her an idea! She quickly typed up a message and sent it to Weiss.

Yang knocked on her door before walking in, causing Ruby to look up with her still present smile. Yang easily returned her smile as she sat on the edge of her bed. Something was different about her though. Ruby just couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“So how was dinner with your fellow short stack?” Yang asked with a smirk and a ruffle to her sister's hair. Ruby quickly smacked it away and pouted at her use of nicknames. She had never been a huge fan of being called ‘short stack’ and she was pretty sure Weiss didn’t like it either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t wear those stupid heels all the time…

“Don’t call us that. It’s not nice Yang.” Ruby pouted some more to make her point clear. Yang’s laughter made it obvious that her point wasn’t made and so she sighed. Her smile was back in no time though when her sister repeated her question.

“Your preference on what I call you doesn’t answer how it went though.” Yang poked her in the side to get her to talk.

“I, personally, had an awesome time! Now Weiss on the other hand…” She let it trail off, causing Yang’s brow to furrow.

“What? She didn’t enjoy spending time with one of the greatest people in the world?” Yang asked with a smile. She took note of how Yang added ‘one of’ to the sentence. A recent addition to that specific sentence that had come along with Blake. She didn’t mind though. Well, mostly that is. As long as her sister was happy, she wouldn’t pout about having to share her.

“Nah, she had a great time too. We spent most of the time getting to know each other a bit better. Although I did tell her about what happened with Qrow. She’s not thrilled about even the slightest possibility of meeting him by the way.”

Yang laughed at the last comment. Just as Ruby had laughed when Weiss said it. There was a secret that nobody but the two of them shared. And everyone else that had met him, but still.

“I told Blake about it too, and guess what she said.” The two of them snickered, already knowing the answer. Yang spoke again before she could say anything though.

“Although to be fair, absolutely nobody wants to meet him. And every time someone does, they always love him. Sorta. Well, kinda. Mostly?” The fact that nobody wanted to meet him was the secret. Although now that she thought about it… maybe it wasn’t so much of a secret after all? Her phone buzzed and she lunged over to grab it in her excitement.

‘I would love to. How about on Tuesday at 4? I’m a bit busy before then this week.’

“Eager much, are we?” Yang asked after watching her. Ruby had to hide her blush before her sister noticed and tried to formulate a reasonable, well, reason as to why she was excited to receive a message from Weiss. Although when she looked again she saw that Yang had wide eyes and a mouth hanging open.

“No way! You have a crush on her don’t you?” Yang had to say this quite loudly of course. Because according to her, the louder you tease someone the more effective it was. As long as you weren’t yelling of course. Ruby quickly tried to think of a way to deflect her question. A solution thankfully came to mind.

“Well, what about you? How was your night out? It’s pretty late to be taking Zwei out for a walk you know.” Now it was Yang’s turn to around hesitantly as she scratched her neck. Ruby had a smile now, one that was slowly growing. She knew she had picked up on something and she used that to inspect her sister closely. A realization hit her.

“Yang! You didn’t!” Ruby gasped at the thought she had. There were only a few things that could’ve happened so late at night, what with her sister’s newfound ‘infatuation’ with Blake, them dating for who knows how long, and her sister's unkempt look. The same look that had bothered Ruby before, but that she couldn’t figure out. Messy hair, crumpled clothing… well basically everything about her looked slightly messy or crumpled or something.

“No! No, I didn’t! Well I mean… maybe I did? I’ll be honest I actually have no clue what you’re talking about.” Yang defended herself quickly before trying to look innocent. A look that Ruby hadn’t bought in years at this point. Yang was always guilty. What she was guilty about though? That was the hard part to figure out. But that girl had always done something wrong. She had taken after the Branwen side of her family in that.

“Mhmm. Yeah, I definitely believe that one, Yang. Now c’mon, spill it. I know what you did so there’s no use in hiding it. Especially since I’m not 8 anymore and am quite mature.” Ruby stated the last part quite proudly, as it was a big achievement to become mature.

“Ruby… Just last week I had to explain to you what Jaune’s sister meant when she was talking about a donor…” Ruby’s face flushed when she thought about her sisters… descriptive explanation, to say the least. It had gone a good distance in destroying what little innocence she had left.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that kind of stuff happened?! We have certain technology thingies for that!” Ruby blurted out in an embarrassed voice. Yang only laughed for a bit, before squinting at her with a question on her lips.

“How is it that you can so easily talk about things like sex, but as soon as someone makes an innuendo or a reference to it rather than actually talking about it your face bursts into flames?”

Ruby just mumbled to herself, causing Yang to grin. She stood up and headed out the door, intending to leave Ruby alone for the night. Just as she reached the door to her room she gave Ruby a smile and spoke.

“Night sis. Love ya!” 

“I love you too Yang. I think.” Yang stuck her tongue out at Ruby before leaving and closing the door. Ruby was now alone again and instantly pulled her phone out again. She was planning on talking to Weiss for at least a little longer. Maybe until one of them fell asleep if she was lucky. Although she’d be luckier if she fell asleep first. Sort of. Weiss might not be happy with that. 

\----------

Bonus Scene

A man wearing mostly black and grey with a hood walked away from a restaurant. He made sure to head in the opposite direction of the bubbly laughter that had pervaded the atmosphere of his entire evening. He quietly slipped into a car that had been waiting down the street and finally allowed himself to relax. He didn’t think anyone would notice him but one can never be too sure.

“So was it her? The same one we’ve been looking for?”

The man looked over at the lady in the driver's seat. She was mostly wearing green and brown while wearing a hood of her own. This girl was his partner for this search and he couldn’t have asked for a better one. Although he’d never admit that of course. 

Instead of saying anything he tossed a phone to her, which she caught. After opening the phone and looking through the pictures the girl grinned. A grin he returned wholeheartedly. They had been looking for this troublesome girl for some time now and they finally had their lucky break.

“Should we follow them?”

“Nah, I grabbed the plate number. We’ll track her that way.”

“What if it isn’t her car?”

“Well, then I’m sure that we can get plenty of information out of her companion.”

The girl considered his point for a moment before agreeing with a nod. She pulled a special phone from a hidden compartment and tossed it to the man.

“Well if we found her then we might as well inform the big man himself. No use in waiting.”

The man nodded and started dialing a number. The answer was quick and a highly impatient voice quickly barked at him. He only had a few words for him though so he got right to business as the woman started to forward the pictures to the man on the other side of the phone.

“We’ve found her.”

“....”

“Are you sure? We can always-”

“....”

“Yes, sir. We can do that as well.”

“....”

“If you wish. 

The man hung up the phone and set it down. He sat there for a moment as the woman waited patiently. He then pulled down his hood to reveal a head full of grey, spiky hair. The woman followed suit and revealed her own green hair.

“So I take it this is going to be fun Mercury?” The woman asked hopefully. They were known to employ various methods to find what they wanted and get what they wanted. It was one of the reasons they had been hired to find the missing girl. But Mercury shook his head, signaling that they wouldn’t be going to such lengths.

“Oh no, it most definitely won’t be. It will, however, be one of the more interesting approaches possible. I don’t think I can recall ever doing things this way since we joined with Fall Investigations. But the big man asked we do things this way, so we’ll try. Just try not to mess things up this time Emerald.” Mercury smirked at the last comment, which caused the woman, Emerald, to smack him upside the head before starting the car and driving off after their prey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Oh no! Looks like Ruby and Weiss  
> weren’t quite as careful as they should’ve been?  
> So maybe things will take a turn for the worse…?  
> Or maybe things will only improve…?  
> It all depends on who is on the other side of the  
> Phone! And also how mean/nice I decide to make these two…


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 10

 

3:46

Weiss sighed and put her phone away, quickly realizing that she had arrived early and that she would probably have to wait for a bit. She was supposed to meet Ruby at the park at 4 pm so she was a bit early. But maybe Ruby would show up early too and Weiss didn’t want Ruby to have to wait for her. She would much rather be the one waiting.

Weiss quickly decided to walk over and sit in the same place where they had first met each other. A small smile graced her lips as she neared the area. A quick walking lady intercepted her, causing them to run into each other. Weiss fell over, a bit shocked but quickly recovering.

“Oh! My apologies! I didn’t mean to run into you! Are you okay?” The lady that ran into her knelt down and offered up a hand to help. Weiss took it and gave a small smile, noticing the girl’s short green hair.

“Do not worry about it. Accidents happen, do they not?” Weiss replied. The other woman returned the smile before looking at her phone. Her eyes widened and she turned to run off. As she left she turned back with a barely visible smirk on her face.

“Sorry again! But I really must go elsewhere!” The woman cries out behind her. Weiss’ brow furrowed, something was bothering her about the lady that she had just run into. She sighed, deciding to ignore it and instead pulled out her phone once more.

3:52

Weiss sighed again, as she still had a few minutes left before Ruby was supposed to arrive. She suddenly stiffened up, feeling a presence over her shoulder. With wide eyes, she turned her head to look at who it was. A smile came to her lips when she saw Ruby staring forward intently. She stifled a giggle.

“Ruby? What are you doing?” Ruby’s intensity faded as she glanced towards Weiss, a smile shining brightly for everyone to see. Her eyes looked bright and happy.

“Well, you were staring over there so I thought I’d see if I could figure out what was so interesting.” Ruby replied proudly. Weiss couldn’t hold it back anymore and finally letting out a happy laugh. The only response that Ruby had to the laughter was an even wider smile and a small giggle of her own.

“It was nothing. I was just waiting for you and Zwei to get here. Speaking of the little devil, where is he?” Weiss replied after calming herself down a bit. She then proceeded to scan the park excitedly until she felt something against her leg. As she looked down she saw Zwei sitting at her feet, pawing her leg. After their eyes met, Zwei let out a happy little bark that made Weiss fall to her knees and fawn over the pup.

Weiss heard Ruby mumble to herself. She didn’t hear exactly what the other girl said, but her voice almost sounded… jealous. Which is preposterous since Ruby has absolutely nothing to be jealous about. Right? Weiss was suddenly feeling a bit guilty, embarrassed, and… nervous?

She pushed these feelings down before they overwhelmed her. After all, these feelings were ludicrous. Weiss was only spending time with her new friend Ruby. Although, she absolutely loved doing so, even if they hadn’t known each other for very long.

“Weissssssss. You in there? Helloooooo?” Ruby tapped her finger on Weiss’ head. Her eyes went wide as she toppled backward onto the ground, much to Ruby’s amusement. Weiss crossed her arms and pouted, showing her obvious discontent at being laughed at.

“Yes, Ruby? What is it?” Weiss asked, a smile threatening to ruin her pout. Oum, it was hard to be unhappy with this girl, pretend or not.

“You started staring off again. And in the middle of petting Zwei too.” Ruby stuck her tongue out at Weiss but quickly put on a worried face. Weiss, on the other hand, instantly lost her pout and instead had a small smile on her face. She was… pleased that Ruby cared enough to worry, but her being worried would not do.

“I was just thinking about things Ruby. I figured it out now though, I think.” Weiss held out her hand, making it obvious that she’d like some help rising. Ruby gave a soft smile once more and helped her up.

“You sure, Weiss? If you ever need to talk about anything you can always talk to me. I won’t ever judge! Promise!” Ruby’s smile once more grew to be full-fledged and sun-rivaling bright. Weiss blushed a bit. She was touched that Ruby was willing to do that but Weiss herself wasn’t quite willing to admit that what she had been thinking about had been them. The thought alone embarrassed her.

“Thank you, Ruby. That really means a lot to me, you know?” Weiss stepped a bit closer to Ruby and gave her a nervous hug. It wasn’t something she did often, but she deemed now to be a good time for one. Especially after what Ruby said. Ruby’s smile looked painful with how wide it had grown, and she eagerly returned Weiss’ hesitant hug. 

“Of course! Oh and by the way…” Ruby pulled away from the hug before leaning just barely close enough for Weiss to hear her whisper.

“You’re actually kinda cute when you try and pout.” Ruby gave a wink before stepping around the now blushing Weiss.

“C’mon Zwei! Let’s get your walk started!” Ruby started walking and Zwei barked before following. Weiss, still visibly blushing, turned and started following. For the first couple of minutes, they walked together in near silence. Ruby had started humming a little while back and Weiss found it to be enjoyable to listen to.

“So Ruby… I take it you are working on a new project already? You always seem to be working on something new.” Weiss said as an attempt to start some conversation. She had never been the biggest talker but around Ruby, she actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

“Oh yeah! I’m working on something really cool right now! But… uh, I can’t really tell you about it. This one is supposed to be a surprise.” Ruby giggled for a moment before her eyes went wide.

“No, Zwei! Don’t do that! Bad dog!” Weiss turned around and saw Zwei had been about to pee on a poor soul that was busy on the phone and hadn't noticed him. Her own eyes widened and she reached out a hand, only to bring it back when she realized that she couldn’t do anything without alerting the man to the impending disaster.

“Ruby! Do something! Call him over with a whistle or something! Dogs respond to that kinda stuff right?! Right?” Weiss hissed to Ruby, trying to sound dangerous and upset but coming off sounding more desperate than anything. Ruby quickly nodded in response and whistled loudly.

“Zwei! Here boy!” Zwei instantly stopped what he was about to do and ran over to Ruby. Weiss was relieved. But that didn’t last long when she saw that the man had noticed what had almost happened. He sent a scowl their direction before briskly walking away.

“That silver haired dude did not look too happy about that, now did he Ruby?” Weiss asked with a slight giggle. Ruby laughed happily in reply, not the least bit worried about the upset man. After all, they did manage to stop Zwei in time so no harm was done.

“He really didn’t. But I’m not too worried about that. What I am worried about is this little jerk and what made him think it was a good idea to try a stunt like that.” Ruby said, poking the dog with the tip of her foot. Zwei only barked happily before running off again. Thankfully he stayed closer this time though.

“Does he do that sort of thing often?” Weiss hoped the answer was no, but she wanted to make sure. After all, it would be good to know if her… friends dog had a habit of going around attempting to urinate on people.

“Nah, he’s usually much more mindful of how he acts. He must have not liked him or something.” Ruby explained.

“Well that is good I suppose. But anyways, let us get back on topic. Why is this project oh so top secret, hmm?” Weiss pestered. She enjoyed teasing Ruby and she honestly wasn’t worried about what it really was as most of Ruby’s projects were a surprise. She didn’t expect Ruby become so bright and start stuttering so much though.

“W-w-well, actually… it’s, um, something special that I’ve been working on for a little while. I only recently decided to work on finishing it.” Ruby replied while fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Weiss giggled happily at the sight, believing that what she was seeing was quite possibly one of the most adorable things she had seen.

‘Wait, what?’

Weiss shook her head in order to clear her thoughts. She believed that she had a good idea as to what all this meant, although she didn’t really want to admit it quite yet. Ruby cleared her throat and started walking again. Weiss quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

Weiss didn’t really know what to say now. She was still kind of new to this whole being social thing and she was hoping that Ruby would speak up. Instead of saying something though Ruby started humming again. Weiss decided to enjoy it instead of worrying and soon enough she was humming along with her, much to Ruby’s obvious amusement. 

As soon as the other girl noticed her face had lit up in order to brighten the world. After a few moments though she took a few quick steps forward and turned around so she was walking backward. They continued to happily hum together for a little while before they finally started giggling. 

After that, they fell into a warm and comfortable conversation as they continued their walk through the park. A happy little dog constantly running circles around them. They didn’t go their separate ways for another few hours, much to the enjoyment of the said dog. And much to the annoyance of two certain people that they would occasionally encounter.

\------

Ruby quietly closed the door behind her as she entered her apartment with Zwei. After throwing a quick glance around the house, she noticed that something had happened while she was gone. And judging by the discarded clothes all around the house, she really didn’t want to know the details. 

Ruby sighed but retained the joyous smile that hadn’t left her face since she had walked up to Weiss earlier today. But she knew how Yang was and she couldn’t be trusted to discern between the two bedrooms in the apartment. If what she was thinking happened, then Yang and Blake were as likely to be in her room as they were to be in Yang’s.

Ruby walked to the one room she knew would be safe to go to. She quickly entered her workroom and sat at her desk. After leaning back and relaxing for a few minutes Ruby sighs and pulls off the necklace she wears under her clothes. Her smile softened as she looked at the crystalized flower petal.

Ruby sat for a little while before finally moving once more. She put the necklace back on and pulled out a carved rose. About a week ago she had found the inspiration needed to continue this project. She had also had an amazing idea as to how she wanted to finish this as well.

Ruby pulled at a string coming out of the top and half of the carved rose bloomed. Ruby smiled proudly. She had never tried something like this before but she was determined to make this work. So she started working once more.

Ruby worked on this project diligently for a good hour when she received a message. She heard the buzz of her phone but decided that it could wait for a few minutes. After finishing the petal she was working on, she set the whole thing down and pulled her phone out and checked it. She was pleasantly surprised to see a message from Weiss, thinking that she would be asleep by now since it was almost 9:30.

‘Hey, Ruby. I was wondering if you were still awake?’

Her response was quickly decided upon, opting for simply saying she was. She set her phone down and was considering working on the rose more but that thought was dispelled when Weiss’ response came moments after her own. Ruby decided that her project could wait for now and so packed everything up before checking and replying to Weiss.

‘Good. I am glad I managed to catch you before you went to sleep. I actually had a question I wanted to ask you.’

That got Ruby’s attention quite quickly and so she quickly responded that she was willing to answer her question. She started to get a little nervous as to what the question would be when Weiss hadn’t responded after a good amount of time. She felt relieved when it finally arrived.

‘So, I was wondering if you would like to come over this weekend? If you are free of course.’

Ruby stared at her phone in shock. She hadn’t been expecting Weiss to invite her over any time soon. Although she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t happy with this request, even if it did seem to have been hesitantly made. After a minute or two passed, Ruby’s shocked face faded and a smile grew on her face. There was only one good answer for something like this.

‘Of course I would Weiss! I would absolutely love to come over! What time and day?’

Ruby was ecstatic as she waited for a response. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long before Weiss replied. In fact, she got an answer so quickly that it almost seemed like Weiss had already typed the details up. The thought made Ruby happy because that meant Weiss would be just as excited for her to come over. Or so she hoped.

‘How about you come over on say, Saturday? Noon maybe? We could have lunch together.’

That plan sounded absolutely wonderful to Ruby, and she quickly let Weiss know that she loved the sound of it and that she would definitely be there. Ruby’s smile was bright as she walked to her room. That smile dropped however when she walked into her room and almost gagged at the sight that greeted her, having completely forgotten about Yang’s… evening plans.

\-----

The weekend had finally arrived and Ruby was nearly skipping for joy as she approached Weiss’ apartment building. The building itself was nice but not overly impressive and she looked around, drinking in every detail possible while she walked by. Ruby was so engrossed in her observation that she nearly walked right passed Weiss’ door, only noticing it as she was about to step past.

Suddenly, Ruby felt very nervous. She knew that Weiss had invited her over and that she wanted her here, but that did nothing to help calm her. After a few minutes, she managed to gather herself enough to put on her best smile and raise a hand to knock on the door. Her face turned to shock as the door opened before she even had the chance to actually do anything more.

“Uh… Hey Weiss.” Ruby said sheepishly, retracting her hand and rubbing her neck in slight embarrassment.

“Hello, Ruby. I apologize for that, I had come over and saw you through the peephole and…” Weiss let her voice trail off, quite visibly embarrassed as well. Ruby’s own embarrassment lessened as she had the brilliant idea to attempt and tease the other girl.

“Well if I didn’t know better I would think that you were nervously waiting for me, Weiss.” Ruby said while giving the girl a wink. She found quite a bit of joy when she realized that she was correct. Weiss had been waiting for her nervously. The lack of answer and the way Weiss haughtily turned around and walked back into her room only furthered the revelation.

“I was doing no such thing.” Weiss finally responded with a struggle. She crossed her arms when she reached inside and turned to face Ruby once more, who hadn’t crossed into the room yet. Weiss’ eyebrows stitched together for a moment before she spoke next.

“Well, are you coming inside or not?” She asked in a slightly concerned tone as if she was nervous that Ruby would actually turn away and leave. Ruby would happily make those doubts disappear. With a smile on her face, Ruby stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Of course I’m coming in. Unless you’d like me to go back home?” Ruby gave off a fake sigh and a look of utter sadness. She slowly started to turn back towards the door.

“I suppose that wouldn’t be too difficult to do…” Ruby started, a small smirk appearing as she saw the alarmed look Weiss had from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t expect Weiss to tackle her though. And so she crashed to the ground when Weiss did so. 

Ruby vaguely thought that Weiss was acting a bit weird. Although that thought also went out the window when she noticed how they were laying on the ground. Her face turned bright red and Weiss seemed to notice this as she looked down. Her own eyes widened and she scrambled up.

“I-I-I am so sorry. I was going to say that I did not want you to leave as you had just gotten here… I did not mean for us to… end up in that position.” Weiss said quietly, face nearly glowing from embarrassment. Ruby smiled and gave her a hug to let her know it was fine.

“Hey don’t worry about that. I was kidding anyways so I honestly probably deserved that.”

‘Not that I minded though… After all, it was a kinda nice view…’

Ruby shook her head to clear those thoughts as she released Weiss once more. The other girl seemed to have recovered her composure and looked like she was acting normal once more as well. Although Ruby decided to keep out just in case something came up.

“Well please do not joke about that. I do not have a lot of friends and it is a bit… painful to hear them talking about leaving.” Ruby didn’t think that was the whole truth but decided to accept the answer. For now anyway.

“You don’t have to worry about me leaving Weiss! I’m here to stay!” Ruby said jovially while shooting a wide smile at the other girl. It seemed to work as she gained a smile in return.

“Good. Now, how about some lunch?” Weiss asked. Ruby’s eyes grew wide and she started to practically drool. She was definitely hungry, although she was always hungry. And based on Weiss’ growing smirk, the other girl knew that too.

“Yes, please! I’m starving!” Weiss snickered at the response, covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. Ruby heard it of course, and so in response to the Weiss’ laughing, she decided to pull out her greatest weapon.

Weiss’ laughing cut short with a hiccup as her eyes went wide at the sight before her. Ruby had decided to start pouting, and she knew that most people couldn’t handle the saddening face that she had perfected long ago. Weiss let out a choking sound before turning away. 

When this finally happened, Ruby’s fact finally broke out into a great big grin. When Weiss finally looked back she saw the grin and put on a scowl, one that Ruby knew she didn’t really mean. Kind of like her little pouting trick.

“That really is not fair, you know that…?” Weiss grumbled to Ruby before turning and promptly sitting on her couch. Conveniently forgetting about the lunch she had offered, Ruby quickly noted. She was about to bring it up but when she saw the book Weiss had on the stand next to him she started jumping excitedly.

“Weissssssss! Is that Blake’s newest book? The one that she hasn’t released yet?” Ruby’s eyes sparkled. She had really gotten into Blake’s writing lately.

“I suppose it would be. I do not see why you are surprised that I have it, considering that I am her editor.” Weiss replied with a smile at Ruby’s antics.

“I mean… I guess you’re right hehe. But what is it about? I’m really excited to see what it’s about.” 

“It’s a love story, one about two girls that fall in love and persevere through trials that they come across despite the fact that the reality they live in requires them to fight for their lives constantly.” Weiss tried to summarize the story without spoiling anything.

“So it’s a gay love story in a dangerous world where they constantly risk their lives…?” Ruby ventured cautiously. Now that it came up, Ruby really wanted to know what Weiss thought about gay relationships. Weiss nodded and smiled at Ruby’s quick summary.

“That is correct.”

“And how do you feel about the story? And does the relationship that the two girls share bother you at all?” Ruby decided to ask it bluntly, something that she had picked up from Yang. 

“This is most definitely not one of my favorite stories made by Blake, but I still found it enjoyable.” Ruby smiled at what she said, quite happy to hear that.

“That’s good!”

“As for the relationship part? I honestly quite enjoyed that part of it. It is always nice to see ones sexual orientation represented by someone so well known…” Weiss quietly finished, letting her comment fade away. Ruby’s eyes widened as she realized what she was saying. After her eyes returned to normal, her smile widened in its place.

“I can agree to that. I-” Ruby was interrupted by her own stomach rumbling, her face growing red. Weiss laughed happily at that before speaking.

“Anyways, we should eat. Preferably sometime before you starve to death.” Wiess gave a smirk as Ruby gave off an embarrassed laugh.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Ruby replied, just wanting a way to avoid the embarrassment caused by her ever hungry stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hey everyone! So sorry that I didn’t  
> update last week and that I'm  
> also a day late! Things came up and prevented it.  
> Among those things was a tornado!  
> I mean, I slept through the entire thing even though it passed  
> by and ruined some of the houses down the street heh.  
> There was no power for a while though.  
> Then there was the fact that I also came down  
> with the flu AND a two-stage ear infection.  
> Like both the inner eardrum and outer part of  
> my eardrum got infected at the same time  
> somehow. However, I went to Urgent Care  
> and so that’s getting treated now.  
> I also wanted to make sure I could plan  
> how I wanted this story to continue.  
> But anyways! I’m back now!  
> I made sure that this chapter was  
> extra long (both because I couldn’t update  
> last week and also so that we could reach an  
> even 30k)! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!  
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 11

A heads up: This is a rough draft that my editor has not yet edited.  
I will update this chapter when it gets edited.

 

Weiss smiled to herself. She had just finished eating lunch with Ruby and had joined her on the couch. She felt quite proud of herself today, considering how she had finally admitted how she felt… sort of.

She had recently done quite the ‘soul searching’ for the past week because honestly, Weiss hadn’t ever expected to be gay. And yet here she found herself, falling for the dorky painter who endangered the life she’s built. Weiss giggled to herself, something that Ruby noticed.

“Hey, Weiss. What’s so funny?” Ruby asked curiously, leaning in so that their shoulders touched. Weiss blushed and turned away from the artist.

“It is nothing Ruby. Hey, why not watch some TV?” Weiss asked hurriedly, already pulling out the remote and pressing the power button. Ruby leaned in even closer, causing Weiss to blush even more.

‘As if it wasn’t already visible enough!’ She thought to herself, cursing her pale skin. Ruby smirked and withdrew. The TV turned on, a news station already playing.

“Sounds good to me! What’re we gonna watch?” Ruby asked. Weiss kept her face angled away from Ruby and shrugged.

“I am not sure. If you would like, we can put in a movie? I do not have a large variety but I am sure there is something you would enjoy watching.” Weiss gestured to the movie stand sitting next to the TV. She didn’t usually watch movies, but Blake had suggested she watch a large list of her favorite movies. Although she hadn’t watched most of them.

“Alright! Lemme just see what we’ve got to pick from!” Ruby nearly launched off the couch to look through the movies. She started humming, as the girl so often does these days. Weiss’ mouth twitches into a slightly wider smile as she turns her attention to the news.

“Today marks the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament Preliminary rounds! Among the fan favorites for the up and coming rounds are the following teams! There is Team ECOA, AASH, WISH, and VVAS! These are the four teams that everyone is rooting for to get to the semi-finals! But who knows what will happen? After all, they have to face off against 124 other teams! That means there are 5 more rounds before the quarter-finals!”

A happy and upbeat voice continues to go about describing the Vytal tournament and eventually, Weiss starts to tune it out. She is proud that Seraine and the rest of his team, Team VVAS, was doing so well and all… but right now she had more pressing matters.

Among said matters was her rapidly heating face when she realized that her eyes were roaming Ruby’s figure. Weiss’ eyes widen when she realized what she was doing and forced herself to look back at the screen in hopes of preventing Ruby from noticing. When she noticed that the news had finally changed though, Weiss’ face instantly returned to normal.

“And now, we go to Lisa Lavender for more news for news on such a heinous crime.”

“Thank you. Today we are here at the scene of a murder. The culprit is, as of now, still unknown but the victim is none other than well-known actor, Cardin Winchester. We have it on good report that this crime happened late last night and that there are more than just a few suspects. However, other then that, we do not have much information on who did it and if this was a single time case or just the start. Either way, one can only suspect that this may have something to do with the large slew of charges that have surfaced against him. It has been released that Cardin Winchester had managed to cover up many crimes that he had been charged with. Among those charges were things such as theft, abuse, and even rape.”

“Thank you, Lisa. Now-” Weiss tuned everything out after that. A frown had appeared on her face as she thought to herself. Ruby had stopped what she was doing and had listened to the report as well, and when she turned and saw Weiss’ face she knew there was something wrong.

“Hey, Weiss? Something up? You seem kinda spooked by that… uh, murder report.” Ruby put a hand on Weiss’ shoulder when she didn’t respond. Weiss heard her but didn’t respond. She didn’t necessarily know what to think about the news report. On one hand, Weiss didn’t like the concept of people being murdered. On the other hand, it was Cardin…

“Weiiiiissssss.” Ruby whined out her name. After a moment she leaned down so close that their noses touched and whispered something.

“Boop.” Weiss’ eyes widened, quickly coming back to reality and attempting to jump away from Ruby with a massive blush. She heard giggling as she rose from the floor behind the couch, having fallen over the back when scrambling away. Weiss looked up after making it onto her knees and saw Ruby smirking with her chin resting on the back edge of the couch and her eyes sparkling with humor. She was not happy with Ruby. The other girl looked kinda hot like that but-

‘Shut up, now is not the time for that’ Weiss thought to herself as she managed to put a scowl on her face, causing Ruby to snicker even more. Her face just kept growing redder.

“What was that for, Ruby?” Weiss demanded half-heartedly. Ruby only grinned at her some more.

“You were realllllyyyy deep in thought so I tried something one of my friends always does! Well, she does it to Ren at least.” Ruby stated proudly. Weiss' eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“So who is Ren too… this friend of yours?” Weiss asks carefully, hoping that Ruby doesn’t change the topic to what she was thinking about. Ruby starts to fidget for a moment before replying.

“Well, you see… Ren is Nora’s… Well, he’s her… Umm... “ Weiss, who has finally reached her feet, lightly flicks Ruby’s forehead with a small smirk on her face.

“Come on dolt. Spit it out already.” Weiss says with a chuckle.

“They’re dating.” Ruby spews the answer out as quickly as possible. Weiss’ chuckling stops almost immediately, realizing that what the other girl had done wasn’t, in fact, something that her friends did as… well friends, but instead as a couple. Her face, as well as her entire neck, turned a bright shade of red. Ruby laughed anxiously and rubbed a hand along her neck.

“Anywayssss, so what were you thinking about Weiss?” Ruby asked, trying to change the topic. Weiss’ flushed face quickly faded and she frowned slightly as she returned to the couch.

“Well, you heard the news about the murder I take? Cardin Winchester and the way he had been so brutally killed that they were unable to identify who it was for hours?” Ruby nodded with wide eyes. Weiss sighed before continuing.

“Well… Back when I was with my...family… I knew him. Not by choice, but instead forced to because our parents knew each other. Although I really do not want to talk about it much more than that…” Weiss sighed and pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them. Ruby decided that a change in topic would be the best choice.

“Well! So what movie should we watch? And action movie? Sci-fi? Er… Romance?” Ruby started tapping her fingers together and Weiss wondered if that was some form of nervous habit. She smiled a bit and gave a little giggle.

“I would like something that ends happily or is otherwise lighthearted. Other than that, you can pick.” Weiss gave Ruby a sad, yet fond smile that the other girl happily returned before leaping up to go find something to watch.

“Alright! You want to grab some blankets or something? ‘Cuz movies in the cold afternoon need to be done with blankets! Oh! And hot cocoa! You do have some of that right?” Ruby started bouncing excitedly, causing Weiss’ smile to only grow. She was quickly laughing happily.

“Of course I do. Let me go get everything ready. I will be back in here in a few minutes, so make sure the movie is ready by then dolt.” Weiss said fondly, already cheered up. She first walked to the kitchen to heat up water before heading to her room and collecting a few blankets.

\-------

Ruby decided to pick out cheesy rom-com to watch. She chose it specifically because it was humorous and because Weiss seemed to have a few of them so she probably liked them. As the other girl entered the living room with a handful of blankets Ruby flashed a comforting smile in her direction. Weiss only smiled back before setting down the blankets and heading back towards her kitchen.

Ruby got up off the floor in front of the TV and started setting up what she deemed to be the perfect nest of blankets for watching a movie. After some careful consideration and thought, Ruby finally decided that it was good enough right as Weiss walked in with two mugs.

“The cocoa is done. Have you picked out a movie yet?” Weiss handed one mug to Ruby before eyeing the nest with curiosity.

“Yeah! I picked out a rom-com. You said something happy or funny and since you have a lot of them I guessed that you like them.” Ruby grinned proudly at Weiss, who looked away slightly embarrassed.

“Well, actaully those movies were given to me by Blake. I have not really watched any of them though.” Weiss replied, much to Ruby’s dismay. Apparently, her choice wasn’t as amazing as she thought it would be.

“Would you like me to pick something else then? We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to.” Ruby hesitantly replied. Weiss’ eyes widened slightly.

“It’s not that I do not like them! I just have never watched much in the way of television or movies.” Weiss quickly said. Ruby almost instantly perked up. With a smile, she slurped up some of her hot cocoa.

“Well, why don’t you come and sit down? It’s nice and comfortable here!” Ruby patted the spot next to her. Weiss smiled a bit nervously before sitting next to her. Ruby gave a comforting smile before leaning in and giving Weiss a caring hug, much to the older girls surprise. Weiss stiffened for a moment before relaxing.

“Before the movie starts I just wanted to let you know something. You may not want to talk about what happened to much, but if you ever change your mind I’m always here for you. I can tell that something’s up, but I won’t push you about it. Anyways, let’s get this movie started!” Ruby pulled away and wrapped herself up in a blanket next to Weiss, who quietly sat with her head lowered.

“Thank you, Ruby. That means a lot.” Weiss said quietly. She gave a soft smile to Ruby, who returned it tenfold. After a few minutes of staring at each other with smiles on their faces, the two quickly looked away. They then sat together and started the movie in a comfortable silence.

“Oh my goodness they did not just do that.” Ruby finally broke the silence, bursting into laughter. Weiss giggled next to her.

“It certainly looks like they did.” Weiss said with a smile lingering on her face.

After that point, there was near constant joking and laughing and Ruby absolutely loved it. It was all at the expense of the movie, of course. And after finishing one movie Ruby put in another. And then another. Ruby was excited to be spending so much time with the platinum-haired girl. Esctatic, in fact. She really didn’t want to have to leave. Eventually, though, the need for sleep started to overtake her.

Ruby’s eyes started to flutter shut, tired beyond belief. Eventually, she let sleep take her and slowly leaned over onto Weiss’ shoulder. She felt Weiss stiffen up at the contact but she didn’t care. She was a bit too tired.

\-------

Weiss sat on the couch ramrod straight and eyes wide. Ruby was leaning against her shoulder and Weiss didn’t have any clue about what she should do. After a quick glance over she realized that Ruby was asleep and relaxed a little. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed about it, but she at least knew what she should do.

Weiss smiled lightly and gave Ruby a soft hug, which was returned by the unconscious girl. She went to pull back but quickly realized that Ruby’s grip on her was much tighter then she had originally thought it would be. She struggled against Ruby’s hug, but the redhead was much stronger then Weiss was.

After a few minutes, she gave up. There was no way she was getting out of this. The realization brought a bright blush to her face and she sighed. She struggled once more but to no avail. As she started to drift off to sleep, Weiss decided that she would either just make an excuse in the morning or tell her the truth. Either way, it was late at night and she needed her sleep. So instead of continuing to fight it, she pulled up a blanket and went to sleep.

They peacefully lay on the couch under the blanket, smiles gracing their faces. Weiss eventually slipped her arms around Ruby’s waist and pulled closer into the other girl. They were in for quite an embarrassing wake up in the morning, but they both enjoyed it in the meantime. Whether they would admit it or not. After all, they were both in the arms of the woman they were falling for and that isn’t something that everyone had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> I hope you all enjoyed this weeks chapter!  
> There was a good amount of fluff!  
> And we’re about to find out more about our two lovebirds past  
> too! Or at least the snowflakes. I was asked for  
> more drama and I plan to comply with that!  
> The next little ark for our story is about to begin.  
> The first one was the meeting and this one is going to be about  
> the past! Hope you enjoy!  
> Also, I really don’t like Cardin so hopefully no love lost  
> for you all as well heh. This part of the story may or may  
> not have just been so I had a reason to kill him off…  
> BUT! I still hope you all have enjoyed and  
> continue to enjoy my story! If you did  
> then feel free to drop a review! I love reading  
> everyone's theories as to what will happen!  
> Especially since the next chapter is never set  
> in stone and so your theories give me ideas and  
> maybe it’ll become reality hehe…  
> So anyways! See you all next week!  
> Last thing: At this rate I might change  
> my posting day. Just keep that in mind!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 12

 

Ruby awoke to the soft ringing of an alarm, which confused her. Since when were alarms nice enough to be quiet? She groaned out and attempted to move but found herself incapable of moving much more than her arms. Why couldn’t she move? After quickly glancing around she let out a gasp.

She was still in Weiss’ apartment! She couldn’t believe that she had fallen asleep on the other girls' couch! But why didn’t she call Yang and have her picked up? Ruby’s eyes furrowed in confusion for a brief moment. Her train of thought was quickly interrupted when she felt movement. 

Ruby hazarded a glance down towards herself, having not even gotten that far in her inspection after noticing where she was. Another gasp quickly came out of her mouth when she saw Weiss with her arms wrapped around her waist and her head resting on her abdomen. She didn’t really know what to do so she sat there with her eyes wide and a smile, which was not at all creepy, growing on her face.

That was until Weiss pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked back at Ruby. Although it wasn’t quite the same way she normally looked. Instead, she had a dull and far off look in her eyes. Ruby’s eyes furrowed as she stared at the blank expression looking up at her. Weiss then crawled up Ruby’s body, causing a blush to grow rampant on the younger girls face.

“W-weiss? You doing alright?” Ruby asked, not really wanting to know the answer. She thankfully didn’t get much more than some mumbles in response. Although the blank expression was still staring at her.

After a few moments of staring at each other, Weiss finally drops back down. Ruby’s eyes go wide when she feels where Weiss decides to nuzzle her head. This wasn’t what she had been expecting when she woke up! Not that she didn’t enjoy this though.

Weiss mumbled out some words once again, although Ruby understood none of them. After struggling for a few moments Ruby relaxed once more. Weiss loosened her grip after that point, making things a bit more comfortable. Ruby thought she could see a small smile on the girls' lips as a quite audible and happy sounding sigh came from Weiss.

Ruby giggled at everything that was happening. She was really happy watching Weiss wake up. It was almost too cute for her to handle. Sadly enough Ruby’s giggling seemed to snap Weiss into full consciousness.

Weiss’ head slowly rose to reveal her wide eyes, which were now bright and focused. Ruby had to hold in more giggles as she watched Weiss almost completely transform. Gone was that beautiful pale skin. Instead, Weiss was now as red as a tomato and slowly growing darker shades.

“Morning, sunshine. Having fun there?” Ruby teased. She didn’t really know how they ended up like this but she wasn’t really complaining. Especially when Weiss let out a groan and buried her face in her chest once more. The platinum-haired girl let out a muffled reply before sighing.

“So what was that, Weiss? You have to speak up.” Ruby let out another giggle as Weiss raised her head and glared at her.

“Shut it, you dolt. And I was just saying how I do not even care about this sort of thing, this early in the morning. So that being said, I am going to go back to using you as a pillow.” Weiss grumbled out before falling back down and pulling the blanket up. Ruby grinned before remembering something.

“Oh, uh Weiss? Don’t know if this is important or anything, but your alarm is what woke me up not too long ago.” Weiss shot up as soon as Ruby said those words.

“I have work! I need to go get ready for the meeting that was scheduled for today!” Weiss said as she scrambled to get up and go get ready. Ruby only stared after the girl, enjoying the sight she was presented when the other girl ran off. She shook her head to clear it and to rid herself of that goofy smile before Weiss got back.

Ruby relaxed back into the couch while Weiss got ready for work. She was going to have to ask Weiss about last night though. She remembered watching movies with the other girl and then… nothing. She kinda hoped Weiss would know how they ended up completely entangled.

Ruby grinned. She was also going to enjoy the blushing that would no doubt take place when she asked as well. Weiss was always pretty easy to embarrass. Well, for her at least. And it was definitely something she took quite a bit of pride in.

She decided to curl up on the couch around one of the throw pillows. It wasn’t quite as nice now that Weiss had gotten up but she didn’t mind too much. Ruby pulled the blanket up over herself and hummed happily. She had really enjoyed herself last night.

Ruby gave off a sigh of contentment before slowly drifting back to sleep. She had always been one to sleep in, even though she was easily woken. And she found Weiss’ couch to be quite comfortable as well. Besides, the other girl wouldn’t mind if she went back to sleep. Right?

\--------

Weiss stepped out of the bathroom only wearing the towel she had brought with her into the room. A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned her head backward, her already dry hair hanging loose. After a few minutes though she squared her shoulders and proceeded to hurry about and get ready for work. 

She had forgotten that she’d have to go into the office early today. Something about some rich patron interested in lending their support to the company. She didn’t necessarily have to come in, but as the head editor for many of the top selling books, they published she had been asked to do so anyway.

After getting dressed and putting her hair into a formal ponytail, one that was offset just how she liked it, Weiss headed back into her living room. She pulled out a grapefruit for breakfast as she went around and gathered her things. Right before heading out the door though, she noticed something.

A grin spread across her face as she saw that Ruby was curled up on her couch, asleep once more. She quickly walked over and planted a quick kiss to the other girl's forehead before pulling a piece of paper from her work bag. She then wrote a short note for the sleeping girl, letting her know that she could stay as long as she’d like. 

Weiss stood up to leave but hesitated once more. After a moment she leaned back over and added when she’d be returning as well. The paper was then folded neatly and set down on the coffee table with Ruby’s name written the side facing up. She then finally started towards the door, only stopping in order to ruffle Ruby’s head on her way out. She let out a smile when she heard a happy murmur being released as she reached the door.

She had a feeling that today was going to be a good one. It had been a great start, even if it had been embarrassing. However, she knew just how to turn those tables around. A smirk appeared on Weiss’ face as she thought about what she was going to say to Ruby next time she saw her, which would hopefully be when she got home. She may be thick at times, but she was still pretty sure that Ruby liked her. Which bode well for her.

Weiss climbed into her car and tossed her bag neatly into the passenger seat and started the car before snapping herself in. Her mind turned towards the meeting as she drove down the road towards her work building. She was kind of interested in who this possible patron was going to be. She just hoped that her father hadn’t somehow managed to be drawn towards the small little publishing company she was hired at. That could spell trouble.

Weiss’ forehead scrunched up at that thought. But the smile quickly returned when she remembered the sleeping image of Ruby. The girl was just too cute sometimes! The thought of all the times she remembered where Ruby was overly cute or adorable in the little interactions they’d had nearly made her squeal happily.

She’d have to ask Ruby on an official date sometime soon, she reasoned as she pulled into the parking lot. The thought made her nervous. More nervous than she’d ever remembered being. More nervous than when she had been planning on leaving her fathers mansion and restraints with Blake. But the thought also made her happier then she would’ve thought possible. And it showed on her face as she exited the car.

“Hey there Snow Angel! You seem to be quite happy today.” A man with sandy yellow hair called out to her. Normally Weiss would’ve grimaced at his greetings but today she took it all in stride, far too happy to be dissuaded by someone like him hitting on her.

“Yes, Jaune. I am quite happy today. This morning was… different. But I enjoyed it.” Weiss said, intending to keep a bit cryptic about it all. She didn’t know why but the boy wouldn’t stop hitting on her. It usually got on her nerves, although she hadn’t realized why up until a little while ago.

“I can tell! You didn’t even get upset when I called you ‘Snow Angel’! Which you always do.” Jaune replied as they walked through the building. He obviously took her like of rebuttal to mean he had a chance today. She should probably tell him though so he could move on. She sighed, not liking what she had to do one bit. Ruby must be rubing off on her, as she wouldn't have been bothered by this a few months ago.

“Jaune, please listen to me. I know you’re trying to hit on me and all and I know you like me, but you should know that it will never work out how you imagine it would. You are… you are a good guy and all, just not the kind of person for me. I am… how do I put this? I am gay I guess you could say. But I think that red-haired girl from the gym down the street would give you a chance if you let her.”

‘Oum, I sound so cheesy. This was a bad plan. Damn it, Ruby I blame you for this.’

Weiss gave out a sigh and looked over at Jaune. She expected him to be on the verge of breaking down, but oddly enough he didn’t look too bad for someone who had gotten his heart broken. He gave her a sad smile when he saw her looking.

“Yeah, I kinda figured you would say something like that. Not the gay part, mind you. That’s not something I would’ve pegged you for. But Pyrrha? I don’t have a chance in hell with her. Sort of like how I never really had a chance with you.” Jaune chuckled and Weiss felt a little bad. 

“I think you have a pretty good chance with her actually. The way she looks at you seem to be a bit similar to how I look at… Anyways, you should try talking to her. It’ll help I am sure. Anyways, do you have any clue who the new possible sponsor could be?” Weiss replied, eager to change the topic. It seemed to work as Jaune was immediately thoughtful. He might not have been great at most things, but he was quite adept at management positions and paperwork so he would know about this.

“If I had to hazard a guess, it could be one of three groups. Ozpin from Beacon, Salem from Grimm something or other, or… Maybe Jaquess from Schnee? Or maybe Klein. Either way, those three groups have been interested in us for the past few months. I’m not sure why though. Why would they be interested in a small time writing publisher?” Jaune pondered.

Weiss didn’t respond, having gone pale. She should’ve guessed that her father would be interested in the publisher she worked at. He had probably figured out where she worked and wanted to take her home again… no, not home, but the Schnee mansion. She didn’t want to go back. Home was where she was now.

Weiss’ mind flashed, showing her an unpleasant memory. She saw a figure in a white suit with white hair. He was standing over her, face twisted in fury as her eyes blurred with tears. Then, suddenly, there was laughter. Familiar and comforting laughter. 

The scene gradually changed and she was with Ruby. It was one of the days they had spent together at the park. They had been sitting where they had first met and they were laughing, together, about some stupid joke that Ruby had learned from her sister. She remembered that it had been slightly inappropriate and that they had been blushing as they laughed.

Suddenly, life wasn’t quite as close to ruining as she had thought it was moments ago. She had a life now, and she wasn’t going to back down from it. Her father wouldn’t take it, not today. Not ever. A small, determined smile spread onto her face as the color returned. Or what little there had been, to begin with, she thought with an inward pout.

Jaune was giving her a weird look as she squared her shoulders. Whoever would be meeting them didn’t matter. She just had to psyche herself up for it. They entered the meeting room and sat down together. She briefly had the thought that she hadn’t even considered that it could’ve been one of the other two people. Or why they had been interested in the company. She pushed that away though as she heard footsteps approach the door. They were pushed open to reveal…

\-----

Ruby yawned as she woke up and pulled out her phone to check the time. It was around 11, meaning she should probably eat something. Or she could just lay there and be lazy. Her mind had an in-depth verbal debate as to which choice was the better one. It lasted a whole 12 seconds before her stomach growled, making up her mind for her.

She let out a groan as she pulled herself up, only now noticing that she was still on Weiss’ couch. The next thing she noticed was a small piece of paper with her name on it. Intrigued, Ruby picked up the paper an read it. To her delight, it was a note giving her permission to stay as long as she liked and a time for when Weiss would be back. She stored the second part away, planning to make some food for the other girl to come back to.

Ruby sprang to her feet happily and walked towards the kitchen. She was really hungry but that wasn’t surprising. She was almost always hungry, after all. The haunting suspicion that Weiss was starting to figure that out made Ruby grin sheepishly as she looked at a fully stocked fridge. There was an entire section of the fridge dedicated to sweets and she knew for sure that Weiss wasn’t exactly big on that kind of stuff. 

A glance to the window made her forehead furrow slightly. She could have sworn she saw a flash of green outside. Maybe it was just a leaf or something though. Nothing to get too concerned about probably. She should instead focus on getting something in her belly! That seemed like the best course of action.

So that’s exactly what was going to happen! Ruby hummed to herself as she started cooking up some food. She wasn’t the best in the kitchen but she knew a few recipes. Her knowledge of food was mostly restricted to pancakes, cookies, and spaghetti though. So pancakes it was! Ruby giggled when she finally made up her mind on what to make, deciding that the spaghetti would be what Weiss came home to.

A blush crept up on her face when she had a thought. This is what a significant other usually did, wasn’t it? Cooking food for their beloved while they were out working… Well… in that case, she would just have to make sure that the two of them ended up together pretty soon. Especially after this morning. After all, someone wouldn’t behave that way if they had strictly ‘friend only’ feelings for another. Right? Right. Which means she had a shot.

Ruby smiled at that thought. She wanted to make Weiss happy. And while she probably couldn’t do that with nice food, she could certainly try with other things. Her mind drifted off to her latest project, the rose that could hang from a hook and would turn from a budded flower to a bloom one if you were to twist the stem. It would make a good gift for when she asked the other girl out, she thought as she gently stroked her necklace. It was hiding under her shirt as usual, but it still gave her a sense of strength and encouragement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> I REGRET NOTHING!  
> Except maybe the fact that I procrastinated  
> on this and had to stay up extra late in order to finish this  
> on time… Procrastinating is bad kids.  
> Don’t do it.  
> Anyways! Leave a like, kudo, review, or something  
> of the likes! The more you do the more people that will  
> be able to read my story!   
> P.S. I apologize ahead of time. I’ve been watching  
> Future Diaries while writing lately… Which means  
> that things might get a little angsty or vicious. Which  
> was not in the plan when I originally made the plan for this  
> fanfic heh. But I hope it all turns out enjoyable anyways!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 13

Weiss sighed as she approached the door to her apartment. Today had been a long work day. Longer than usual. She had only just now gotten back home and it was already late into the afternoon. It was a good thing she could cook something up pretty quick or go get some food at a restaurant nearby. Italian maybe. It was something she had always enjoyed after a busy day.

After a few moments of jingling keys, Weiss was finally able to open her door. She proceeded to walk into the living room and fall onto her couch with a groan. Maybe she could skip dinner and just sleep instead. Although she hadn’t eaten much at all today so that was probably a bad idea, no matter how tempting it sounded.

“Weissssss, you’re finally back!” Ruby shouted from the kitchen. Weiss sat up, her back ramrod straight and her eyes wide. She hadn’t thought that Ruby could still be here.

“I was getting a bit worried. And a bit hungry. So I started making dinner!” Ruby happily said as she peaked her head around the corner. Weiss quickly got her surprise reigned in, only for it to be replaced by a steadily growing warmth in her chest. She smiled and stood up.

“I did not think you’d still be here when I got back. I was gone most of the day, after all. I can not say that I am not pleasantly surprised though.” Weiss finally replies upon approaching the crimson haired girl. Her smile grew and she wrapped her arms around the other girl for a quick hug. She pretended not to notice the large smile lighting up Ruby’s face as she walked towards the table.

“Welllll, you did say I could stay as long as I’d like didn’t you? I mean I thought you’d be home soon and all and I just wanted to say hi before leaving but now it’s really late and so I decided to make some food and-” Weiss flicked Ruby on the forehead, abruptly stopping the girls rambling. A sheepish smile was on Ruby’s face, while Weiss wore a smirk.

“You are babbling, you dolt. Although you are correct, seeing as I did mention you could stay as long as you would like. I meant it too. You are even free to stay the night again if you would like.” Weiss said, smirk still dimly present on her face. She could see Ruby staring wide-eyed at her with a bright smile.

She hadn’t been planning on Ruby staying another night, of course. Hell, she hadn’t planned for it to happen the first time either. But when she heard Ruby’s nervous babbling she remembered everything that had happened the night before. And she couldn’t exactly bring it up and comment on it if Ruby left. Now could she? Weiss’ smirk became devilish for only a moment before becoming a sweet smile as she turned to face the other girl.

“I would love to stay the night again and all, but my sister is going to get worried if I don’t head back and check in. She’s probably out with Blake and all but still… Better to not risk the wrath.” Ruby chuckled at the end, causing Weiss’ smile to fall. The other girl noticed this though and quickly spoke up.

“B-but I’ll still stay for dinner! After all, I kind of made it because I was hungry and all that… But anyways, if you still want to hang out after that then you’re more than welcome to come over to my place.” Ruby flashed another nervous smile, which did return one to Weiss’ face.

“I will have to take a rain check on that I am afraid. Tomorrow will be a busy day of work as well.” Weiss sighed, easily remembering what her day at work had been.

“That’s a shame. Maybe we can get together later this week then?” Ruby asked hopefully, holding her hands together in front of her with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Weiss grinned a bit before shaking her head to clear it. This girl was a bit too cute and good at this stuff for her own good.

“Of course. We will have to stay in touch though. Otherwise, it will never happen. Although we already stay in pretty close contact right now as is… Anyways, what is for dinner? I am quite hungry.” Ruby looked proud of herself when asked the question.

“Spaghetti! I felt like making spaghetti for dinner!” The girl announced, making Weiss’ grin turn to a full-fledged smile.

“I was hoping to eat some Italian tonight. I guess that means this was all meant to be hmm?” Weiss winked before smirking, already waiting for the stuttering that would signify that Ruby was flustered. Only it never came. Ruby was only nodding her head vigorously.

“Yeah! Spaghetti was absolutely meant to be what was for dinner! It was destiny! Or… uh, something like that. Although that whole ‘destiny’ thing might be because that’s the only dinner I could make and… I’m just going to be quiet now.” Ruby stated proudly, before faltering before the end. Weiss smiled at Ruby’s obliviousness to being hit on right now.

‘I will give it a few weeks… Then I will ask her. Goodness, when did I become so… hopelessly cheesy? Destiny? Really?” Weiss said to herself. After all, she didn’t want to rush into things. Maybe.

“Well, shall we eat? I am pretty hungry and I am pretty sure your spaghetti is going to be delicious.” Weiss said as she sat at her small table. Ruby beamed at her before running off to finish their dinner. 

“Hey, Weiss! How much red sauce do you want?” Ruby called out. Weiss snorted a bit when she wondered why the other girl called it red sauce instead of spaghetti sauce or something else. It was a short-lived question.

“I will have a single scoop of sauce please.” Weiss called out. Ruby let out a hum to let her know she’d been heard. It was only a few minutes before the other girl finally came in and Weiss’ eyes widened. Her spaghetti looked like it was swimming in sauce. Ruby’s was no better.

“Bone appetite!” Ruby said proudly. Weiss flinched.

“First of all, it is ‘Bon appetit’ not… Whatever it is that you just said. Second of all, what happened to the one scoop I asked for? This is… a lot more than I was expecting.” Weiss said, with a slightly harsh tone that quickly faded into one of worry. Ruby looked back at her with wide eyes.

“I did do one scoop! Although I was using the really really big one… So yeah I probably should’ve mentioned that…” Ruby said. Weiss just sighed, knowing exactly what ladle the girl had been using.

“Blake bought that ladle as a gift for me. She knows how I never really eat a ton, so she gave it as a joke. It was not funny then, and it still is not, but it looks like it finally found a use.” Weiss replied with a light laugh, which in turn made Ruby start giggling.

“Well, if it’s too much I can go pour some back in?” Ruby offered.

‘She is such a sweet thing’ Weiss thought with a smile.

“Thank you, but you have already done plenty. I am sure I can handle something as simple as this.” Ruby didn’t seem to like that answer, as she quickly stood up and walked over to take the plate before she could stand up herself.

“No no you stay seated. You had a busy day at work today and you need to relax.” Ruby said quickly as Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She turned to look out the window as the other girl left the room. She saw a flash of silver right before her eyes landed on the window and her eyes narrowed once more. When nothing happened for the next few moments though, she relaxed. After all, she was probably just thinking about Ruby’s eyes again. That seemed to be happening a lot these days…

“Alright! Is that better now?” Ruby asked with a wide smile. The plate had significantly decreased in size now that a good chunk of the sauce was gone. Weiss gave a soft laugh before replying

“Yes, Ruby. Much better now. Thank you.” Ruby’s smile only grew wider at that. She then sat down to eat and immediately started shoveling food in her mouth. Weiss followed at a more reserved pace.

“You really seem to be enjoying yourself, Ruby.” Weiss finally said with a laugh. The other girl had already almost finished her entire plate and would probably go back for seconds. Meanwhile, Weiss wasn’t even half done with her own food.

“Food is awesome! Not as awesome as cookies, but still! So, of course, I’m enjoying myself.” Ruby stated. Weiss only giggled more.

“Cookies are a kind of food, you dunce.” Ruby blushed when Weiss said that. After sinking down in her chair and poking her fingers together repeatedly she finally spoke up once more, obviously embarrassed.

“Yeahhhh… I guess you’re right. It is kinda a form of food, isn’t it?” Ruby laughed to herself as Weiss continued to smile. After a moment though, she realized she was staring and quickly returned to eating. Ruby started giggling after a few moments.

“It looks like someone else is suddenly enjoying their food now, hmm?” Ruby said with a smirk. Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out as Ruby stood and went to the kitchen with her plate in hand.

“Damn it, Ruby.” Weiss muttered under her breath. It was like Ruby could quickly and easily flip a switch. One moment she was innocent and cute and the next, hot and confident. But no matter how she acted, Weiss still felt so very attracted to her. A blush slowly started to crawl onto her face as she continued to think about the other girl.

“So Weiss, how did work go? I know it was a long day but… uh, well you seem a little off still.” Ruby said as she sat down with a large plate of seconds. She directed a small smile towards Weiss. Weiss only sighed in response and leaned back a little.

“Well do you remember how I told you there was a meeting I had to go to yesterday?” Weiss asked.

“Ummm no? I was kind of asleep for most of it.” Ruby said with a light laugh. Weiss barely contained a snort at that.

“Speaking of sleeping. I do have something to say about last night. Remember how we ended up all… Well tangled up?” Weiss said with a smirk. She was going to enjoy what came next.

“Uh, yeah? What about it? You don’t need to be embarrassed or sorry or whatever ya know.” Ruby responded with a reassuring grin.

“Yeah well, I was not the one who caused that. You are the one who latched onto me last night so I could not get to my bed.” Weiss said with a laugh and teasing tone. Ruby’s face became a darker shade of red than her namesake. And Weiss took quite a bit of pleasure in the sight that it presented. Ruby could only sputter in response so Weiss moved on.

“Anyways, you asked about what happened. So I walk into the meeting this morning with my co-worker Jaune. He’s in a management position by the way. Well right after I take a seat the doors open again and guess who comes in? None other than…” Ruby went from being incredibly embarrassed and unable to talk to being entranced by Weiss’ story, embarrassed, and still unable to do much more than sputter. Weiss smiled happily as she continued talking. Usually, she wasn’t very talkative, but with Ruby? Seems like things were different.

\-----

“C’mon Ruby! We need to finish the shopping before the store closes!” Yang called out as she walked around with a grocery cart. Ruby groaned as she shambled along with her sister.

“Why couldn’t we have done this in the morning again? It’s so late right nowwww.” She replied. She had barely walked through the door when Yang had herded her back outside and to the car.

“‘Cause we need food! It was your turn to get groceries. But when you finallyyy decide to show up, you come home empty handed! I mean, c’mon Rubes!” Yang cried out with a teasing tone. She stopped as they passed the flower section.

“You thinking of buying Blake some flowers or something?” Ruby teased, completely ignoring the part about how she was supposed to go shopping. Yang’s face brightened at the comment though.

“Of course I’m thinking ‘bout it! A good girlfriend buys her girlfriend plenty of flowers! I wonder if they have any pretty sunflowers. Oh! I heard that there was a flower called Belladonna too! Maybe they have some of those?” Ruby giggled at Yang's excitement but abruptly stopped at the mention of the flower Blake was named after.

“Nooooo nonono don’t get her that flower! I mean, first of all, you’d probably have to go to the black market or something!” Yang gave her a weird look, one that said she didn’t understand why she’d have to go to the black market for a flower.

“Ummm why? It’s just a flower sis.” Ruby sighed and shook her head.

“No, the Belladonna is a very poisonous flower. And the death it causes isn’t exactly pleasant either.” Ruby stated as Yang stared at her eyes wide. The blonde girl shook her head.

“Why the hell do you know about that Rubes? Like seriously is there even a good reason behind knowing that kind of stuff?” Yang asked with a worried expression. Ruby only laughed and pushed past the other girl to get the cart moving again.

“I know all this because I studied weaponry and poisons for, like, a year when I was 14. Kinda went through that whole ‘death phase’ or whatever you like to call it.” Ruby called out over her shoulder as she pushed the cart along. Yang grabbed a bouquet of flowers from a lady with green hair before running off after her.

“Yeah, yeah. I remember that. It wasn’t too long after mom’s death, was it? Maybe 8 months at least? At first, I thought you were just looking for some way to commit suicide. Glad I was wrong though. I wasn’t exactly in some peachy place myself, now was I?” Yang said with a soft smile and a light punch to Ruby’s shoulder. The red-head sighed but put on a small smile herself.

“Yeah. Dad too. I still don’t think he really got over all that. You tell Blake about all that yet? You guys have been dating for, what, 3 or 4 months now?” Yang shakes her head as they continue through the store, grabbing items as they pass.

“No way, man. I can barely hold it together when talking to you about it. There’s no way I’m ready to have this talk with anyone else yet. But what about you? Gonna tell Weiss?” Yang prodded Ruby in the side while wearing a smirk.

“What?! No! Why would I tell her?” Ruby asked quickly with wide eyes and red cheeks. Yang only snorted and kept walking.

“Alright, well next question. When are you gonna ask her out? You’re not exactly subtle with the fact that you have a crush bigger than a black man's di-” Ruby slapped her hand across Yang’s mouth, although the mumbling sound of muffled talking persisted.

“Gosh Yang. Do you always have to be so perverse? And I’m not going to ask Weiss out! Well… Not yet at least. I want to give it a little more time, ya know?” Ruby said as she slowly pulled her hand away from Yang. The blonde only grinned at the ever growing blush that had been creeping up on her sister the longer they talked about this sort of stuff.

“Well, first of all, I’ll have you know that Blake absolutely loves how perverse I am! But enough of that. You and Weiss have known each other for like a month or two. There’s nothing wrong with making a move on her now.” Yang reasoned. Ruby only sighed as they approached the checkout and started unloading. She only spoke again when they nearly reached the bottom.

“Hey, Yang?”

“Wassup Rubes?”

“You probably shouldn’t have gotten the flowers so soon. I don’t think Blake is a big fan of them when they’re flat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter!  
> I was watching ‘Highschool of the Dead’  
> while writing this chapter btw. Just something  
> interesting I thought I’d share heh.  
> Next chapter will be written with  
> Akame ga Kill or whatever it’s called  
> playing. Supposedly it’s a bloody anime  
> which suits me just fine!  
> Anyways, more about this chapter.  
> So first: yes I did it again and completely avoided  
> telling you all who Weiss met at the meeting.  
> I know, I know, I’m a jerk lol.  
> Next: You got to find out more about  
> Ruby and Yang’s past! Sort of.  
> You find out that Summer didn’t exactly  
> die when Ruby was too young to remember  
> that is. Exciting! Well, I hope you’re all  
> ready to read the next chapter next week!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 14

Weiss jumped in surprise as her phone rang from where it sat next to her on the couch. It wasn’t the unique ring tone Ruby had made for herself last week either, which is what led to her confusion. Nobody really called her and only Ruby ever texted her. So that being said, she just stared at the phone as it rang.

Eventually, it stopped ringing and Weiss went back to working on editing for Blake’s newest set of chapters. She wanted to finish this before tonight since she was going to meet up with Ruby. After all, she had something to ask the girl and didn’t want to have to worry about anything else. Or maybe she’s just really nervous and needed something to keep her mind off of even the idea of what she was going to do.

Weiss nearly had a heart attack and fell off of the couch when her phone started ringing again. She picked it up to look at it this time and saw that it was a number she didn’t recognize. It might be important though so she decided to answer it.

“Heya, Ice Queen!” Yang called out. Weiss sighed loudly and hung up. She really wasn’t in the mood for Yang’s antics right now. As her phone started ringing again she let out a groan. She knew this wouldn’t be quick so she gathered up her stuff and set it on her coffee table before answering the phone.

“What do you want, Yang? I am busy.” Weiss heard Yang laugh and she rolled her eyes.

“What, dontcha want to get to know your new girlfriends' sister?” Weiss coughed as her face turned dark red.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Yang only snorted in response before moving on.

“Yeah, well whatever. I called ‘cuz Blake wanted to talk to you. She’s been complaining about you not telling her about some velcro or scarlet something or other.” Weiss scrunched up her eyebrows, unsure what Yang meant. She heard the phone move between hands.

“Velvet Scarlatina! She was talking about Velvet Scarlatina!” Blake almost growled out. Weiss cleared her throat and thought about hanging up again. This wasn’t exactly something she wanted to talk to Blake about right now.

“Don’t you dare hang this phone up or so help me I will come find you and I will stab you.” Weiss smiled at the threat. She knew Blake wouldn’t follow through with it but she also knew that she really should talk about this with her.

“Okay, fine. I will not hang up. Now, what why have you been complaining about Velvet all day?” Weiss asked. She had a good idea as to why… but she’d rather hear it first just in case.

“Well, I heard from a little flower how sometime last week she showed up at a meeting at your work. Wasn’t it… oh, I don’t know, sometime around when Ruby disappeared for almost 24 hours?” Weiss smiled at the memory.

“Well, I suppose you might be correct. Why?”

“Here’s a better question. Why didn’t you tell me that Velvet had shown up? You know that she and I are old friends and that I’d want to see her.” Weiss sighed. She should let her know what she was planning, especially since they were such close friends. And Weiss hated keeping secret plans from Blake anyways.

“Alright fine. Velvet extended an invitation to me to go to a ball or party she is hosting. Something along those lines. And, well, you were not the one I was hoping to invite I guess. It is in around 2 months. The end of the summer season.” Weiss waited, although it didn’t take long to get an answer.

“You’re gonna ask my baby sis aren’t you!!” Yang cried out. Weiss was quiet for a moment as she processed the fact that Yang had heard everything.

“Oh god, was I on speaker phone Blake?!” Blake didn’t respond and Yang only laughed.

“Blake, I am going to kill you. No, wait. I have a better idea.” Weiss said calmly. Blake finally responded.

“What are you talking about Weiss? It better not be-”

“Blake, I am going to make sure that every can of tuna or piece of fish within a 50-mile radius of you is gone. Mark my words, it will happen.” Weiss said evilly. She then promptly hung up and got back to work. Thanks to those two she was now more nervous about tonight than ever before.

She had to meet Ruby in 2 hours for dinner. Hopefully, she could get plenty done within the next hour because after that she had to get changed into something nicer than her jeans. Maybe a nice summer dress? Either way, she wanted to look nice for when she asked Ruby to attend the dance with her. As a friend of course. Maybe.

\------

Ruby was nervous about tonight. Not necessarily because she had dinner with Weiss, although that was certainly a good reason to be nervous for sure. No, it wasn’t really that which bothered her at this moment. She was sitting on a bench in the same park where she and Weiss had met and she believed that she was being followed.

Well, she actually knew it as a fact but that only made things worse. Some green haired girl that she ran into on the path while walking with Weiss. The same girl walking past Weiss’ apartment while she was staying over. Another girl that looked almost identical but with small changes handing Yang the flowers she was getting for Blake.

Then at the club, Yang dragged her to in order to ‘loosen up’. She ordered milk by the way. There was also the gym, bowling alley, museum, and a few other places. She hadn’t been the one to notice it though. Yang had actually been the one to comment on how she’d been seeing a lot of people with green hair lately. That had been the comment that made her realize the reason for that.

A flash of white caught her attention. She turned to greet who she knew to be Weiss but could only stare when she saw the other girl. Weiss had decided to wear a short white summer dress that left her shoulders bare. On the dress were various black images of flowers. Or more specifically, roses and lilies. 

Weiss also had on a simple blazer that matched the dress in order to keep out some of the chill that could creep in at night. The girl had a beautiful smile on her face as she confidently walked towards Ruby with a small hand purse clasped to a bracelet of black beads. Lastly, there was a beautiful blue teardrop necklace around her neck. Weiss sat next to her, smile slowly turning into a smirk as Ruby continues to openly stare.

“You see something you like Ruby?” Weiss laughed as Ruby snapped to her senses. She took a moment before replying.

“I mean, you could say that. Oh but uh, we should go somewhere else. I have something to tell you.” Ruby said in a serious voice. She noticed that a man with silver hair had just joined the green haired girl that was on a nearby bench. Weiss was probably being followed too.

Ruby stood and took a step away before turning back, realizing that Weiss wasn’t yet following. She was about to say something when she noticed that the other girl had a blush on her face as she fiddled with her fingers. Ruby only giggled at the sight.

“C’mon Wei- um… White. Heh. Anyways, let’s go.” Ruby said as she reached down and grabbed one of Weiss’ hands and pulling her up. Weiss cooperated after only a little bit of hesitation and so Ruby started off, heading deeper into a park.

“Ruby? Where are we going? The restaurant is outside of the park. Not deeper in it.” Weiss said as they made their way off the beaten path.

“Did you ever wonder where it was that I spent my time while in this park on my own? Well, that’s where we’re going. It’s my own special and hidden place and I feel like we need that right now.” Ruby said as they sped up into a brisk jog. She made sure that Weiss’ nice outfit wasn’t at all ruined while they kept going.

“And why do we need such a place? We were planning on dinner, not a run through the forest.” Weiss replied. Ruby quickly pulled the other girl into a small clearing and held her breath. Thankfully, Weiss did the same.

After a few moments, they heard a quiet rustling move past them. Weiss’ eyes were wide while they waited for a good amount of time. Just when they were about to relax though, there was more movement.

Suddenly the movement stopped and instead there were voices. It wasn’t very loud, in fact, it was quiet both due to hushed tones and distance. But if Ruby strained her ears, she could just barely hear them.

“...lost them. The boss won’t be happy.”

“Maybe we can find them again?”

“No, I don’t think that will work. They’ve already figured out we’ve been following them. Besides, I think we gathered enough information about her. We know the Schnee’s plan after all. And that means we’ll know where the girl will probably be.”

“You’re right. Then I think we should head back now.”

“Agreed. Let’s go.”

The sound faded and their footsteps retreated. It seemed like they were safe to move but they waited just in case. Half a dozen minutes passed before they even dared to breathe normally again, at which point Weiss spun towards her.

“What the fuck was that?” Weiss demanded as Ruby’s eyes went wide again. Ruby needed to explain things quickly.

“I noticed that lately, someone has been following me is all. Then I saw someone follow you to the park as well. So I dragged you over here and… well yeah…” Weiss sighed.

“Let me guess, the one that has been following me has silver hair?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures. I have been seeing flashes of silver all over the place lately. I thought I was just thinking about… Well, do not worry about it. Just know that I noticed it as well but did not put two and two together.”

“Of course you noticed it! You’re, like, really smart and all that after all.” Ruby said, beaming. Weiss laughed.

“What does being smart have to do with noticing these things?” Weiss asked, causing Ruby’s smile to falter.

“Umm well, smart people notice things I guess? Or something like that?” Ruby said hesitantly. Weiss gave her a smile before responding.

“Observant people notice small things, Ruby. Smart people are just that. Smart. But I will take the compliment anyways.” Ruby giggled a little at Weiss’ explanation before looking around.

“So I think we should head out to dinner just like we planned. Don’t you agree? Because I’m kinda hungry.” Ruby said with a smile.

“As if that is surprising. You are always hungry. Although I suppose that I am a bit famished as well. But is it really the best idea to go out in public so soon?” Weiss replied. 

“You’re probably right. How about instead we cook something up at my place? Or I could have Yang bring us something out here if you’d like.” Weiss shivered, obviously not pleased with the prospect of seeing or talking to Yang.

“I would love to eat at your place. But just give me a few minutes to make a call.” Came the reply. Ruby snickered at the forced sweetness that was in the girls' tone and nodded. Weiss promptly pulled out her phone and dialed up a number.

“Hey, Blake.”

“...”

“Sort of. Something came up and we were actually going to head over to Ruby’s place and spend the evening there.”

“...”

“Absolutely. If you can do that then I will not get rid of all the tuna like I said I would.”

“...”

“Pretty much. Thank you.” Weiss said as she ended the call and put her phone away. Ruby looked at her questioningly as Weiss turned to face her.

“What did you need Blake to do?” Ruby questioned. Weiss grinned slyly at the question.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little face about that and just lead the way.” Weiss said with a sweet smile. Ruby was more than happy to comply and started to march off. That is, until what Weiss said caught up to her.

“Wait, did you just say-” Weiss quickly cut her off.

“No, I did not say anything. Now let us go off towards your place. We are both pretty hungry last I checked.” The girl quickly said. Ruby’s eyes only went wide in realization.

“Oh. My. Goodness. You’re right! We need to go get some food to eat! And fast!” Ruby shouted as she dragged Weiss out and towards the center of the park once again. Weiss only smiled at Ruby’s antics, more than willing to play along.

\-----

By the time they reached Ruby’s apartment, the redheaded girl was giggling like a schoolgirl and Weiss couldn’t keep a smile from her face. They were vigilant of course as they didn’t want to be followed again. Weiss wasn’t sure what exactly they wanted but if they were following the two of them, then something obviously wasn’t right. They had agreed to talk to the police in the morning about it though, so things should be fine after that.

“And we’re here! Welcome to my humble abode.” Ruby said as she unlocked her door with a flourish and a bow. Weiss let out a giggle at the gesture but was quick to snuff it out by covering her mouth with her hand. Ruby gave a little pout when she did, so she threw the girl a happy smile that seemed to work.

“Thank you. Now let us go make something for dinner. I think it is about time for that if the sounds your stomach is making is any indicator.” Weiss smiled innocently while Ruby gasped in mock indignation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! My stomach isn’t making any noise at all! I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ruby said with a pout.

“So does that mean you do not want to eat? I suppose we will just wait for a bit in that case. An hour sounds good right?” Weiss said, eliciting the exact response she was hoping for as Ruby started to stutter out a response with wide eyes.

“N-no! I am hungry and we should eat now. Please?” The girl pleaded with wide eyes filled with desperation. Weiss was only able to laugh in response.

“Of course, Ruby. How about we go find something to cook up?” She replied with a soft smile. She could tell that tonight was going to be very enjoyable. That was perfect seeing as she needed to find a way to invite Ruby to the party that was in a few months. Ruby being in a happy mood meant good things would probably happen. Although to be fair, Ruby was always in a good mood…

\---

Two hooded figures entered the same alleyway that a lone figure was standing in, shrouded in shadow. They strode in with purpose and approached the figure that was partially hidden, obviously intent on either speaking or mugging the person. Seeing as they had no obvious weapons, it was probably the first option.

The two newcomers stopped just short of the person in shadow and pulled down their hoods. One had a head full of green hair, the other had one of silver. They were the ones that had business here tonight. Hopefully, the news was good. In fact, it better be considering the fact that they had asked for a personal meeting.

“We have news on the girl you wanted to know about.” The one with silver hair said.

“We have insight as to where she shall be in just a few months.” The one with green hair added.

“This had better be good then.” Came a mechanical reply. It was obvious that the person speaking didn’t want these two to know who they were hired by. A smile crept up on the face of the observer on the roof. That meant things could get interesting.

“Velvet Scarlatina is hosting a ball on the twelfth of August. That red-headed goody-two-shoes you’re looking for should be there. She and the Schnee girl are head over heels for each other and that prissy little brat got an invitation for two.” Said the green haired girl. The figure in shadow only nodded their head quietly.

“They finally noticed that we’ve been following them though. It’s been about a month so I guess it’s about time.” The boy with silver hair added. There was a nod of understanding.

“So I take it you won’t be able to provide me anything else of use?”

“Pretty much. Now can we have the agreed payment?” Said the boy in white.

“Yes… The agreed payment. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the payment has changed.” Came the reply.

“Excuse us?” The green haired girl replied.

“Yes. Instead of the price you were told you’d be given, I would instead like to introduce you to a good friend of mine. He’ll reward you properly.” The one in shadows somehow managed to fade away and the observer on the roof knew it was his turn. Now it was time for his favorite part. Now he wasn’t an observer. A maniacal giggle escaped his throat as long knives slipped into his hands. He would make sure that this was headline news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Soooo… Remember how I said that this  
> was originally supposed to be all fluffy?  
> Yeah well, like I said. ORIGINALLY.  
> Obviously, it isn’t anymore and this  
> is where things are supposed to  
> really get interesting! Maybe.  
> It might take a few more chapters  
> for anything big to really happen  
> but I would definitely say things are a bit  
> more interesting heheh...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 15

Weiss walked into the living room behind Ruby while laughing happily. They had just finished eating dinner and cleaning up in the kitchen and were ready to relax and talk. They had been enjoying each others company for some time now and while Weiss should probably be getting home, she really didn’t want to. Besides, she had yet to ask Ruby to attend Velvet’s dance with her.

Ruby jumped onto the couch with a giggle and looked back at Weiss. She smiled in response and decided that she was going to ask the other girl soon. She just needed a bit time to mentally prepare herself first.

“Hey, Ruby? I am going to use the restroom real quick. I will be back in a few, okay?” Weiss said with a smile. 

“Oh! Yeah, the bathroom is just down the hall.” Ruby said with her own smile as she pointed in the direction she meant.

“Thank you, Ruby.” Weiss said as she turned and started to walk. After reaching the bathroom she entered but only to lean against the door and start breathing nervously.

‘Alright, Weiss. You can do this. I do not know why you are so nervous. It is not like you are asking her on a date. Well, I guess it could actually be seen that way… ‘ Weiss said, starting a long mental debate with herself as to whether this was a good idea or not. Eventually, she came to a conclusion though and started to settle her breathing.

After calming herself, Weiss put a smile on her face and left the restroom she had been in. She started walking back to the living room and only faltered when she, by chance, looked through a doorway and saw dozens of carved and sculpted roses. The sight widened the smile on her face as she thought about what sort of big plan the other girl had for them. The thought also calmed her nerves. After all, it was just Ruby. Right?

Ruby sat up from her laying position on the couch when Weiss walked in, the girl’s brilliant smile present as always. Weiss quickly walked over and sat where Ruby’s head had just been laying before either of them spoke.

 

“Heya, Weiss. Whatcha want to do?” Ruby asked before letting her head fall back down on Weiss’ lap. Weiss let out a small squeak of surprise as Ruby just continued to smile up at her, obviously waiting for an answer. 

“I am not too sure. Do you have any preferences?” Weiss asked. She wanted the two of them to be doing something before she actually asked. That way they had something to turn towards if it turned awkward. 

‘Maybe I am overthinking it though and should just ask.’

“Well, we could just take a nap. That sounds fun!” Ruby said with a giggle as she snuggled in closer. Weiss’ heart rate started to slowly climb as the other girl wiggled around.

“Before we do that though, I have a question for you.” Ruby stopped moving and gave her a curious look.

“M’kay, well go ahead and ask. I’m all ears.” Weiss sighed as she thought about whether this was a good idea or not.

“So, remember how Velvet came into work a little while back?”

“The old friend from way back when? Blake’s friend too right?”

“Yes, that one. Well, anyways, after the meetings had finished she invited me to attend an event. I am allowed to bring a plus one and I thought that you would like to go with me.” Ruby only stared up at her, eyes wide. Weiss started to get nervous when she didn’t get an immediate answer.

“But isn’t Velvet Blake’s friend? Why not ask her so that they can see each other.” Ruby asked with a frown. Weiss started realized that if she didn’t come up with an excuse that this would start to look like a date or something, which she definitely wasn’t trying to ask about. Definitely. 

“Oh, actually I did ask her first. But apparently, she has some sort of plan? I was not supposed to know about it.” Weiss fibbed nervously. Ruby narrowed her eyes and stared for a moment before grinning.

“I would love to go Weiss but if you go to your old friend’s party, who is supposedly very well off, then wouldn’t that alert other people to you still being around and attract unwanted attention to you?” Weiss’ shoulder dropped at the thought. Ruby was right of course and she had been silly to forget about that. She had just been overjoyed at the thought of doing something like that with Ruby.

“Yeah, you are right.” Weiss sighed.

“Well, instead of a public dance or party how about we have a small one for all our friends? We can invite Yang, Blake, and Velvet. Maybe even that Seraine person you told me about. Oh! Or that Jaune dude. Maybe he’ll grow a pair and ask that Pyrrha chick as his date, hmm?” Ruby said, poking Weiss’ side. The platinum-haired girl smiled before nodding. Sure, this wasn’t a big fancy party but if it was something she could do with Ruby? Well, in that case, she really couldn’t complain.

“Alright, that sounds like a great plan. But we can discuss it in more depth at a later time. For now, let us just relax. It has been a long day after all.” Weiss laughed with Ruby at that thought.

“Awesome! I’ll just put in a movie and grab a blanket or two. Because what’s a movie night without a blanket on a couch?” Ruby said as she hopped up to find something to watch. Weiss looked around the room to see if she could find the blankets without going through everything but quickly gave up. They weren’t likely to be in this room anyways.

“And last but not least, the blanket!” Ruby said as she popped a movie in and jumped up onto the couch, landing on her knees and hanging over the back. She came up a few seconds later with a few blankets in her arms, which she wasted no time tossing over both of them. 

After she finished doing all of that, Ruby promptly lay back down on the couch and pulled out a remote. Weiss smiled as the girl’s head lay back onto her lap and the movie started. Ruby lay on her side to get a better view as Weiss sat upright still. 

“This is going to be a good one. It’s one of my favorite movies!” Ruby said.

“I am sure that I will love it.” Weiss said as she unconsciously began to run her hand through the other girls short hair.

“This is gonna be a great night.” Ruby said with a sigh. Weiss only smiled in agreement.

\------

The first thing Ruby noticed when she awoke the next morning was the comforting warmth around her. She snuggled closer to it as memories of the previous night slowly returned to her awakening brain. As all the pieces of the night were clicking together she heard a light mumbling and the warmth around her tighten ever so slightly.

Ruby opened one of her eyes to look up at Weiss’ sleeping form happily and let out a sigh before squeezing the other girl’s waist lightly. She was answered with a squeeze in return and so she did the only thing she could think of that was reasonable and so she squeezed again.

A light giggle escaped when Weiss squeezed back once more, still obviously asleep. That seemed to be the tipping point though as Weiss’ eyes slid open. Ruby stared at her nervously for a little while but relaxed when Weiss smiled and nuzzled her with a sigh.

“Morning there Snow Angel.” Ruby mumbled.

“Quiet, you dolt.” Came the muffled reply as Weiss spoke into Ruby’s hair. A yawn quickly followed. Ruby giggled at the words.

‘I think I should ask soon.’

“It’s about time to wake up and eat some breakfast. I’m kinda hungry.” Ruby said as her stomach started grumbling. Weiss groaned at that.

“Of course you are.” Weiss sighed. She released Ruby so they could get up. Ruby rolled off the couch, gathering all the blankets around her before she went over the ledge and landed on her hands and knees. She let out a giggle as she landed.

“Well, then let's go make something! Pancakes maybe!” Ruby said. Weiss only rolled her eyes with a smile before stretching out and standing up from the couch. Ruby stood up next to her.

“At least this time I do not have to go into work early. I am only expected in the afternoon today.”

“Yay! That means you won’t just run off and leave me all to myself today.” Ruby replied, throwing in a pout for good effect. It seemed to work as Weiss’ eyes widened.

“I am sorry. I just did not think you would be spending the night. Not that it was unwelcome though!” Weiss rushed to defend herself as Ruby tried to suppress her laughter. It wasn’t long before the laughter won out and Weiss stopped what she was saying.

“Why you little…” Weiss pouted in response to Ruby’s laughing, which promptly shut her up and made her eyes widen.

“Oh my goodness… You look so adorable when you pout Weiss!” Ruby said, bursting into laughter once more and wrapping Weiss in a hug. The older girl fought back at first but quickly relaxed and reciprocated the hug.

“Let us just make you some food. Before you starve to death or resort to eating me instead.” Weiss joked. Ruby let her go and Weiss resumed her walk to the kitchen.

‘Oh, I don’t have to be starving in order to have the desire to eat you.’ Ruby thought with a small smirk. After a moment her thoughts caught up to her and her eyes widened. Yang had apparently been rubbing off and so she quickly brushed those thoughts away and ran to catch up.

A good half an hour passed before they were once again seated on the couch with plates full of pancakes and the TV turned on to the news channel. They weren’t really paying much attention to it though and were much more focused on their conversation.

“How about the beginning of fall? We could make it a summer party or something like that.” Weiss suggested.

“We could have a beach party!” Ruby said as Weiss developed a steadily growing blush while staring ahead for a few minutes.

“Uh, Weiss? Good or bad idea?”

“Um, I do not think that would be a great idea…” Weiss said distantly. Ruby pouted.

“Awww, darn. Beach parties are always fun. But how about we have it at the park? You know, the one we met at? Not many people go there after all.” 

“I like that idea. If we do it in the evening we could hang lights from the trees.” Weiss replied as Ruby gasped.

“That’s a great idea! Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for this already!” Ruby gushed.

“Well, we only have a few months until then at most. It gives us plenty of time to plan.”

“How about instead of spending so long planning, we make it earlier? Maybe mid-summer instead! That way we don’t have to wait so long!” Ruby beamed happily at the idea. If it were to be in, say a month, then she would have plenty of time to finish her plans.

“But we need to make thorough plans and besides-” Weiss started.

“Things will be fun if we don’t plan every single step. So how about, instead of in a few months, we give it one month? Instead of the beginning or middle of fall, we do it in the middle of summer!” Ruby said, proud of her idea. Weiss only sighed.

“Ruby, the middle of summer almost past. It is mid-summer right now. In fact, it is almost the end of summer.” Ruby stared at Weiss with wide eyes.

“When did that happen? It was, like, mid-spring last I checked.” Ruby said blandly. Weiss only gave off a small smirk.

“You mean, back when we first met? I guess it is surprising that it has been almost three months.”

“It’s been three months?! Holy crap, the time just flew by didn’t… it…” Ruby trailed off as the TV caught her attention. Weiss seemed to notice and directed her attention in the same direction.

It was the news station that was currently playing. Normally they wouldn’t have paid it any mind but Ruby had noticed out of the corner of her mind the mention of three more sets of murders. Among the victims were two vaguely familiar faces. Emerald and Mercury. There were no last names listed for them but Ruby recognized their faces more than their names.

“Are those…?” Weiss quietly asked.

“Yeah. I guess we don’t have to worry about being followed anymore?” Ruby tried. Weiss nodded slowly but didn’t seem wholly convinced about that. Although Ruby didn’t feel too convinced either.

“If they got killed the night they decided to report back to that boss person they were talking about then I think we have bigger problems than those which come with being followed.” Weiss said, voice still quiet.

“Well, then it’s probably a good thing that we aren’t actually going to that party thing I guess.” Ruby said as Weiss nodded in response.

“True enough.”

“It’ll all be fine, Weiss. I would say that we should go report to the police but I’d rather not be a murder suspect for a string of gruesome killings.” Ruby said as she wrapped her arms around Weiss’ shoulder comfortingly. Weiss let out a smile and returned the hug.

“Maybe we should relocate though. I am pretty sure someone knows where we both live and that is not exactly something I am comfortable with.” Weiss said with a sigh. Ruby nodded and thought. It wasn’t too long until a thought passed by that made her nervous and yet also seemed like it would work.

“Well, my sister was planning on moving in with Blake soon. They wanted a new apartment altogether and so I’m sure we can borrow Blake’s old one.” Weiss stared at Ruby for a while. Ruby’s innocent smile started to fade as what she said started to sink in.

“I mean, we don’t have to do that. It just seemed like a quick and easy solution until things died down. Especially since Blake still has that place rented out for a few more months and they wanted to move out soon.” Weiss smiled at the quick rambling explanation. Ruby slowed to a stop when she noticed that.

“What about all of your art? And someone could just follow me home from work seeing as how they probably know where that is.” Came the reply. Ruby smiled when she realized that her idea had been taken well.

“Most of what I currently have is for one special occasion actually. If we waited until after that then I won’t have much to move. As for your work, can’t you take a little bit of sick leave or something? Maybe request some time off? They can’t follow you if you’re not around.” Ruby said happily.

“When is this special occasion? We can probably wait until then.”

“Before our party thing is over. Regardless of when we hold it, I can make sure it’s done before then.” Ruby said, putting on a happy smile. The party was when she planned to do this anyways. Weiss hummed thoughtfully.

“How about a month then? Just like you suggested earlier.” Weiss suggested.

“That sounds perfect. We can set an exact date later though. You need to get to work sometime soon though. Which means you need to go take a shower and get these clothes washed in the next few hours.” Ruby stated as she pulled the two of them up so they were standing.

“I suppose you are right. Do you have anything I can borrow while my clothes are washed though?” Weiss said as they headed down the hall together.

“Of course. I’ll get everything ready while you get cleaned up for work.” Ruby said with a smile. Weiss gave her a weird look but complied. After the door shut behind the platinum-haired girl, Ruby went and did just as she had promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hey! Sorry that this is a day late! I got into a really  
> bad writing ditch in this past week. I wasn’t  
> really able to do much in the way of writing  
> until Tuesday night. At which point I did as much writing  
> as I could in hopes of getting my chapter out on time.  
> Obviously, that didn’t work so I settled for the next  
> best thing - as soon as possible. I know it wasn’t  
> very exciting or all that amazing, but I wanted to  
> at least give you all something this week.  
> But onto the next topic! So we have Weiss asking  
> Ruby to the dance! And then that idea being  
> completely shut down because they didn’t want  
> to be murdered or something like that lol.  
> Do you all think something else is going  
> to happen instead now that they aren’t planning  
> on going? And what in the world could  
> Ruby be scheming up at a time like this?  
> Oh, and Yang? Please stop corrupting our pure little  
> Ruby. That’s Weiss job. For later. After the story is over. (Maybe)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 16

Weiss had a smile on her face as she walked into work. She no longer felt quite as worried as she did this morning after seeing the news and was able to hold herself with confidence. As long as nothing went downhill, today would be completely enjoyable. The only thing she had to do, was tell Velvet that she wouldn’t be attending the party.

Luckily she had planned ahead and had been intent on asking Ruby the day before Velvets next, and last, appearance to confirm her support to the publisher. She wasn’t quite sure what had been discussed in the last few meetings, seeing as she hadn’t been present. Velvet was a book lover though and would want to help out this small publishing company whether she was part of it or not.

“Velvet. May I speak with you?” Weiss asked as she saw the other girl about to walk through a door just down the hall. Velvet turned and gave her a smile.

“Of course. What do you need?”

“Actually, I just wanted to let you know about something. Your ball event actually. I will not be able to attend it.” Weiss said, attempting to be as straightforward as possible on the matter.

“Oh, well that’s a shame. Why’s that?” Came Velvets noticeably disappointed response.

“Well, did you see the news this morning?”

“There were three more murders, right? I saw a bit of it. A silver-haired man, a green haired lady, and a medical patient that had gone missing 2 weeks ago right?”

“Right. Well, the first two victims you mentioned had been following me and… a friend the same night they were killed. The two of us are worried. The fact that they left to report to someone and ended up dead the next day is… worrisome to say the least.” Weiss states as calmly as she could. She felt her nerves rising again though and noticed that Velvet was giving her a worried look.

“Alright, so no ball. Got it. But what are you going to do about all this?” Velvet asked.

“Well, first off, I am going to give my invitation to Blake. She can take someone. And as for the whole ‘being followed’ thing? My friend and I are going to be taking up temporary residence in a new location for a little while.”

“That’s a smart move. But since when did you get a new friend?” Velvet asked with a slight teasing sound in her voice. Weiss smiled slightly and shook her head.

“Is it really that strange that I have another friend? I am allowed to have those am I not?” Velvet gasped when Weiss said this, obviously not expecting such a response.

“The last time we saw each other before you went off the grid, you barely trusted Coco and I enough to call us friends! Now here you are, growing up and making new friends. Well growing up in every way excluding the physical sense.” Velvet teased relentlessly.

“Dear Oum. Coco really has been rubbing off on you. You used to be the shyest business woman I had ever seen.” Weiss said with a smile, purposefully ignoring the comment about her height. She must admit though, these past few years really had changed her. And meeting Ruby had as well.

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. She kept pushing me to do things differently. Eventually, I suppose I embraced all her advice.”

“Yes. The fact that she kept trying to help you so much goes to show that you matter quite a bit to her.” Weiss said. Velvet let out a thoughtful hum as she stood there with a smile.

“I can’t help but agree. And I am quite thankful about that. But for now, I must go. After all, I do have a meeting to make.” Velvet said as she turned to leave. Weiss was forced to agree, seeing as she had her own work to do.

\-------

“But Yang! I don’t think you understand the problem here!” Ruby said as she neared hyperventilation. She wasn’t quite sure what to do right now and she needed help calming down. Things hadn’t seemed so bad earlier in the day when Weiss had been around but after she left, everything kind of just sunk in.

“Of course I don’t! You aren’t really explaining anything very well right now. So how about we just calm down and take a breath before you explain to me, in depth, what the problem is.” Yang replied gently over the phone. Ruby followed her big sisters' instructions. After a few moments, she went on to explain everything that happened yesterday and the following morning.

“Alright. So first off, remember how you kept seeing a bunch of people with green hair?” Ruby started.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, turns out there was someone following me. And Weiss.” Ruby confessed. She knew that Yang would freak out later.

“Alright… Go on…” Yang said with a deadly calm.

“Anyways, we managed to ditch them before coming home. We made plans to talk to the police and all of that good stuff the very next day before we crashed.” Ruby explained. Yang let out a hum of understanding as Ruby sighed.

“So the next day we got up and we ate breakfast and all that, she doesn’t eat much by the way. Anyways we’re in the middle of eating when she asks if I would like to go to some formal dance. But seeing as how that would bring her close to her old life I told her we shouldn’t.”

“Smart move. But I’m getting the feeling that you never went to the police about your stalkers. Why? You know that this is a dangerous situation, Ruby.”

“Well, that’s what I was about to get to. We had the news station on while we talked and eventually I noticed that the news was about the discovery of a few new murders. Among them was both my stalker and Weiss’. We think they were reporting to someone when they got killed.” Yang sighed.

“This just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?”

“Yes! It does! Because after that I was trying to comfort her and all that. So I told her we could stay at Blakes place if she’s fine with it. Ya know since you’re both planning to move in elsewhere.”

“And how’s that worse? You like her don’t you?”

“Of course I do! And that’s the problem. I was planning to ask her out at the party… And if she says no…”

“I thought you said you guys weren’t going to the party though?”

“Oh, right I haven’t mentioned it yet. Weiss was a bit upset that we wouldn’t be able to go meet with her friends. So we decided that we’d have a smaller party between all of our friends. We were planning to have it before moving locations.”

“Okay so… You guys are having a party and you plan to ask Weiss out during it… I still don’t see the problem.” Yang said.

“What if she says no? We’re planning to move live together for at least a little while right after and that could be really weird…” Yang sighed.

“Well, first of all, I think you’re both idiots and should just go tell the police. I also think you two should get your asses over there today. And lastly, I’m pretty sure Weiss is the gayest gay of all gays for you.” Ruby heard Blake do a spit take and start laughing uncontrollably in the background.

“But-” Ruby tried to come up with an excuse.

“No buts. Call Weiss when she gets off of work and get everything arranged. You two can’t be acting like idiots right now. Right Blakey?” Ruby heard a muted confirmation and sighed.

“Alright, alright. We’ll do it. Thanks, Yang.” Ruby said, feeling oddly calm now.

“No problem. Now go. I have some ranting to do to Blake about you two and your idiocy.” Ruby chuckled at that.

“I don’t recall agreeing to such a thing.” Ruby heard the muffled reply and could only laugh harder as Yang hung up the phone. After a few moments though she calmed down and sighed.

Time passed slowly as Ruby sat on the couch. Yang wasn’t due to return home until late at night and Weiss was still at work for another few hours. So, having nothing else to do, Ruby got up and walked into her art room. She had work to do. There was planning, creating, painting, and other such things.

And with that, her determination returned. She picked up the rose she had been working on most recently and finished carving it. The flower itself had intricate little snowflakes on the petals and the stem had weaving thorn vines. After doing that, Ruby painted the flower petals a soft white and the stem a beautiful and natural looking green. This would be a great way to ask Weiss out.

\-------

Weiss had only been home for a short period before she was laying face down on her sofa. Apparently Ruby had been rubbing off on her, as she never would’ve acted this way only a few months ago. She only smiled at the realization as it didn’t bother her in any way at this point.

Her smile only widened when her phone started to ring, already knowing who was calling. The thought of Ruby calling was all the motivation she needed in order to get up and find her phone. It was only a few quick moments before she was sitting once more, phone to her ear.

“Hello, Ruby. How are you doing?” Weiss asked.

“I’m doing pretty good. I talk to Yang and Blake earlier today too by the way.”

“And what did they say? I assume you asked if we could borrow Blakes apartment in around a month?”

“Yeah, about that. So first of all, they want us to pack what we want to take. Then they plan to pick it all up and move it over to Blakes place. And while they’re doing that, they want us to go to the police and tell them about the other night.” Ruby chattered off quickly. It was a miracle that Weiss had even caught any of it.

“Alright, when do they want us to do this?” She asked Ruby.

“Um… Right now?” Ruby replied nervously. Neither of them seemed to be very fond of this idea.

“Right now?” Weiss verified.

“Yes. Like the kind of right now, that happened 18 minutes ago.” Weiss couldn’t help but smile at Ruby’s odd words.

“I cannot say that I am pleased with this idea.”

“Yeah, but since when can we say no to both Yang and Blake at the same time? They’ve got like, 10 feet on us and could probably just step on us if we don’t listen.” This time Weiss got out a full laugh this time.

“Are you sure that is not just the because Yang is your big sister? Because I can agree to the fact that big sisters can be quite scary.” Ruby giggled at Weiss’ words.

“Ruby! Get to packing. I expect you and Weiss to be at the police station in 15 minutes.” Yang yelled out from the background of Ruby’s phone. Weiss groaned slightly as Ruby sighed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting to it.” Ruby muttered.

“Well, we better get it done. The sooner the better I suppose.”

“You’re right. I’ll talk to you soon I suppose. Oh, and just letting you know - I am most definitely not looking forward to this.” Weiss smiled.

“Me neither, Ruby. But if you think about it, it is the smarter option. Probably.” Weiss said, doubt just barely noticeable in her voice at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hey everyone! I’m really sorry that this chapter is so short  
> and that this isn’t quite as amazing as I would have  
> hoped it would be but I’m going through a few things  
> Right now. That being said, I plan to take things slow this next  
> week or two. If I manage to get a chapter done I’ll still upload it  
> of course but don’t expect anything. I won’t be longer than  
> 2 weeks though so we’ll be back soon enough! On the other  
> hand! Let me know in the comments some things you  
> want to see happen in the story or what you all think would  
> be cool to see happen! And maybe even help me out with  
> what I should have Ruby say to Weiss to ‘convince’ her  
> to go out on a date? Maybe? No, I don’t get any help?  
> Awww I see how it is. Anyways I hope you’re enjoying the  
> story so far and that you continue to enjoy it!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 17

Weiss sat on the couch of her current temporary housing. She had out papers for her work but she wasn’t really doing much with it. There were currently other things on her mind, such as how she wanted to confront Ruby. They had been living in the same apartment for about a week and so she thought it was about time to ask the girl on a date.

She was currently thinking about waiting until after their little party though. At least they can have that without things getting awkward if Ruby said no. In the meantime, she should do some work. Seeing as how she’d be working from home for the next month and a half, that would be the smart choice.

However, instead of buckling down and working, Weiss pulled out her phone and scrolled through her small list of contacts. Surely she could talk to one of them about what she should do? There weren’t a lot of options though.

There was Yang, who had the best insight on Ruby. Although Ruby was already likely talking to her. Blake was also a good option but seeing as how Yang was always around her, Ruby would probably hear about it. Velvet and Coco were also on her contacts but that would lead to a lot of teasing. Even more teasing than Yang liked to hand out.

Lastly, she could talk to Jaune and Pyrrha. Jaune was clueless about this sort of thing though. And Pyrrha? Well, she would be a pretty good option actually. The girl was popular and pretty so she probably had some experience with this sort of scenario. Weiss smiled before clicking on her information.

After a few rings, the other girl finally picked up. There was a bit of rustling as the phone found its way to the owner. Then, finally, there was an answer. A happy and light greeting that never failed to put a smile on the face of whoever it was directed at.

“Hello! How can I help you, Weiss?” Pyrrha said cheerfully and Weiss couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, Pyrrha. I just wanted to talk, if that is fine? And if you aren’t busy that is.” Weiss said as nonchalantly as possible. Pyrrha was quiet for a few moments before responding.

“Of course I’m willing to talk! Just give me 15 minutes maybe? I just need to take a shower, seeing as how I just finished a… um, workout.” Weiss was about to agree but hesitated. After listening for a few more moments she could pick out Jaune in the background. So instead of agreeing, she just smirked.

“It sounds to me like you are not training people at the gym. So unless you consider a date with Jaune to be a ‘workout’... Actually, if you consider a date with Jaune to be a workout then I honestly do not want to know what you two have been doing.” Weiss said hesitantly, giving an exaggerated shudder. Pyrrha started coughing uncontrollably.

“I can assure you, we’re doing nothing like that.” Pyrrha said. Weiss only shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Mhmm. Of course, you are not. Anyways, just call me back whenever you two are done with your date. Oh and congrats on that by the way!” Pyrrha and Weiss said their goodbyes before hanging up. They would talk about it later, she was sure of that.

In the meantime, Weiss set her phone to the side and leaned over the paperwork and stacks of chapters she was supposed to work on. She had been procrastinating on doing it because Ruby’s been around constantly. However, she wouldn’t be able to keep that up and needed to do her job.

So she started to work as efficiently as possible in the time she currently had. After all, Pyrrha would call her back soon enough. And, even if she wasn’t going to be calling her back, Ruby would probably come around and bother her pretty soon anyways. Although, if she was honest with herself, she couldn’t really say that she was bothered by the girl. Weiss smiled softly as she continued to work.

\--------

“Alright Yang, do you think you can get it all set up? If I disappear for too long things might look suspicious and I don’t really trust someone else with this. I’ve been working on it for too long.” Ruby said in a hushed tone. She had called Yang to talk about her plan to ask Weiss out. She had managed to finish all the pieces to the project and just had to wait for the party.

“Yeah, dontcha worry about it, lil sis! And if I’m not sure how you want it, I'll have Blakey to help me! We want this to go really well for you too ya know.” Yang replied. Ruby smiled, comforted that they both wanted this to work out.

“Thank you, Yang. This means a lot to me. Oh, and please tell Blake I said thank you as well.” Ruby said.

“Of course! Oh, and I have a request. Since you and Weiss haven’t picked a date for the party, could I suggest this Thursday?” Ruby heard Blake let out a light gasp in the background but didn’t give it much thought.

“Yeah, that day should work. Weiss has been working from home lately so we should be free that day. I’m sure she’ll agree to have the party at the park too so that makes things easy for all of us.”

“Awesome! Well, anything else you need us to do? I’m sure you’re probably freaking out about all this. I know I was.” Yang laughed good-naturedly as always, causing Ruby to smile.

“Thanks, Yang. But I should go and finish planning this party. Don’t you think?” Yang gave her quick agreement before they said their goodbyes and proceeded to hang up. Ruby sighed and rolled her shoulders. She might need to go get a massage or something. All this worry was certainly giving her muscles some knots, which wasn’t good for her art.

After a moment of leaning against the wall of the room she was currently hiding in, Ruby headed out the door and into the living room. Weiss was currently on the phone with someone and writing on what Ruby assumed was a piece of paperwork. Ruby jumped onto the couch next to her and gave her a smile.

“Hey Pyrrha, thanks for the advice! I have to go now though so I will talk to you later.” Weiss said onto the phone before hanging up and putting all her papers in a pile. 

“Well don’t stop on my account. If you have things to do then go ahead and finish. I can wait.” Ruby said with a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Ruby. But in case you do not remember, we have a party to plan still. I have been waiting for you to finish up your call with your sister so we could get started on that.” Weiss said, turning to face her on the couch.

“Yeah, I did take a little while to finish that call, didn’t I? But yeah, I didn’t forget. I was actually gonna suggest the same thing after you finished.” Ruby replied with a large grin. 

“Well, then let us get started. The first thing to do is pick a date.”

“Yang actually wanted to request that we do it this Thursday. I’m pretty sure it’s some kinda special day for her or something like that so yeah.” Ruby reasoned.

“That should be possible… I will have to let Velvet and Pyrrha know right away though. What about the time and place?”

“How does 4 sound? And at the park where we met? We can have Yang barbeque some food for dinner and just spend time as friends until we all have to go.” Weiss’ current smile only grew at the mention of the park and Ruby knew she was sold on the location.

“That sounds like a wonderful plan so far. I have not been out on a barbeque before though so I guess you will be doing most of this planning.” Ruby giggled as Weiss said that.

“What is it?” Weiss questioned.

“Well, you just say that like the whole barbeque thing is gonna change the fact that I’ll be planning most of this. It looked to me like I already was doing most of this on my own.” Ruby giggled some more as Weiss pouted

“Hey, I was planning to help plan it!” Weiss protested. Ruby only hummed teasingly.

“Anyways, what else do we have to do?” Ruby asked.

They continued to plan for the next few hours. It turned out that they had a lot of things to plan, such as food, activities, and decorations for Weiss. After they had everything planned Weiss called Velvet and Pyrrha and told them the details they needed to know while Ruby told Yang and Blake. They then went to the store to buy everything they needed before calling it a day.

\--------

“Hey, Weiss? Where should I put the cooler?” Ruby called out from the entrance to the park. It was the day of their party and they had been setting things up for about a half an hour already. They didn’t need to take so much time or put so much effort into this party but Weiss seemed to enjoy this, so Ruby humored her.

“Which cooler is it? Is it the one with all the beverages or the one with the barbeque supplies?” Weiss replied.

“The one full of milk!” Ruby yelled proudly. She had put together a small cooler full of milk just for herself because she enjoyed the drink immensely. Weiss gave her a curious look before finally replying.

“Go ahead and put it by the table with the rest of the drinks. Then can you come help put up these lights?”

“Sure! But, uh, are we allowed to even put these up? This is a state-owned park you know.” Ruby asked curiously. She hadn’t read much of the rules other than those that had to do with art but they were very strict about that so she assumed it would be the same with other things as well.

“Well you leave your art here do you not? I would think that this is less likely to cause trouble.” Weiss retorted.

“Yeah, but I had to get a permit for that.” Weiss paused at those words before slowly turning towards her.

“In that case, we might want to keep this between us. We already bought the lights and hung over half of them after all.” Weiss said with a smile. Ruby couldn’t help but nod back with a smile.

It only took a short amount of time for the two of them to finish the lights and put out a few different snacks and side dishes after that. Thankfully, they hadn’t arrived too early and so people arrived not too long after they finished. Ruby and Weiss were in the middle of talking about what had happened with the stalking and then murders.

“Hey, there hot stuff.” Came a voice from behind them both. Weiss turned around quickly and smiled widely.

“Coco! You made it!” The platinum-haired girl cried out before giving the girl a hug. Coco laughed and returned the hug. A girl that Ruby recognized as Velvet stood just off to the side.

“Hello. You must be Ruby. Weiss’ friend?” Velvet asked as Coco and Weiss continued speaking. Ruby smiled and nodded.

“Yeah! And I take it you’re Velvet? Weiss told me a bit about you. I’m really glad you and Coco were able to make it here.” Velvet smiled but didn’t respond. The two of them sat there quietly, not knowing what to say next. Thankfully though, another person entered the fray of the party.

“Rubyyy! Where can I find the food?!” Came a loud shout from a short girl with orangish hair. Everyone that was currently gathered turned towards the sound.

“Nora! Where’s Ren?” Ruby asked, happy that someone she knew was now here.

“Probably like three streets away still. He’s slow! Now, where’s the food? I’m hungry!” Ruby smiled at the exuberant nature of the other girl.

“There are some snacks over there but we’ll have to wait for Yang before we get any real food. She’s kinda the only one decent at barbequing.” Nora pouted at the comment.

“Heyyy, I can barbeque as well! I have plenty of practice!” Nora whined.

“Plenty of practice starting fires. Not barbequing.” Came the calm reply from behind Nora.

“Ren! If you tell them that, then they won’t let me do any of the cooking!” Ren only smiled and shook her head. It wasn’t long before Pyrrha and Jaune appeared as well, closely followed by Yang and Blake.

“Hey, Rubles!” Yang called out as she drew near to everyone else with a smile. Blake was right next to her, the two of them walking hand in hand.

“Yangggg! It’s been forever since we’ve seen each other!” Ruby cried out as she jumped onto her sister for a hug.

“It’s only been 2 weeks. It hasn’t been that long ya know.” Yang said with a chuckle. Blake moved away to go talk to Weiss.

“Yeah, yeah I know. But did you remember to bring them?” Ruby asked in a much quieter voice. She spared a glance towards Weiss and smiled lightly when she saw how the other girl was enjoying herself.

“Now how could I forget? I’ve had you and Blake pestering me about it all day.” Yang said with a lighthearted wink.

“Well, then where is it? I don’t want someone else walking off with it if you left it sitting somewhere.” Ruby replied worriedly.

“Blake and I left it in our car so don’t worry. Just let us know when you want us to go set it up.” Yang said, poking the younger girl in the stomach.

“Alright. Well, I think you should go cook up some food in the meantime. Otherwise, Nora is gonna eat all the snacks.”

“Nora’s here?! Where’s she at? I need to go say hi to my old buddy!” Yang cried out while running off to find her partner in crime.

“Well, this isn’t gonna end well.” Ruby said with a sigh. 

“What is not going to end well?” Weiss said with a smile as she came to stand beside Ruby.

“Nora and Yang. Those two are probably going to cause some trouble at some point tonight.” Ruby said simply. She was too nervous to explain in depth about what happened last time those two were allowed to be together alone. Weiss gave the normally talkative girl a weird look.

“Is something wrong Ruby?” Weiss asked.

“Hmm? Oh, no there’s nothing wrong. I’m just a bit worried. But forget about that, it’s time to enjoy ourselves! I mean that is why we put this all together right?” Ruby said with a smile. Weiss returned the smile with a nod.

Hours passed as they enjoyed themselves and eventually it grew dark. After only a moment’s consideration, Weiss turned on the lights that they had hung earlier, providing warm lighting to the surrounding area. It was at that point that Yang and Blake disappeared to help Ruby and that Coco and Velvet finally departed for the night.

“Hey, Weiss? You enjoying yourself?” Ruby asked with a wide grin. Weiss beamed back happily.

“I am really enjoying myself! It has been so much fun spending time with all our friends.” Weiss said. Ruby glanced over Weiss’ shoulder when she saw Yang and Blake return. Her smile grew slightly while her heart started to stutter nervously.

“That’s good to hear! I was actually wondering if I could show you something real quick though?” Weiss hummed in confirmation and gave a nod. Ruby turned and started to lead her towards a side path. Yang gave her a thumbs up from off to the side while Blake smiled and gave a small wave.

Ruby led Weiss down the small path using a flashlight from her phone. It wasn’t long before they spotted a lightly lit and open area just off the path. Ruby recognized it as a place she often went to relax and felt her nerves arise. Once they entered she wouldn’t have any choice but to move forward.

After a quick look back Ruby saw Weiss give her an encouraging, yet curious, smile. That was all she needed to push forward and emerge into the clearing with Weiss close behind. When she entered she was greeted by soft lights and a single tree sitting in the center of the clearing. 

Hanging from the branches of the tree were small lights and dozens of small, hand carved roses. Weiss gazed around in awe. Ruby started to slowly walk towards the tree and was amused by how Weiss followed her closely around. 

After a slow circuit around the clearing, they stopped below the tree in a spot where the hand-carved flowers and lights hung lower than anywhere else. Weiss walked up to one and gently inspected it, seemingly afraid to break it. Ruby smiled and walked up behind the other girl, gingerly removing the flower from where it hung.

When she handed it to Weiss, the girl held it close. After a moment of hesitation, Ruby wrapped her arms around the other girl and rested her head on her shoulder so they could both gaze around together. It wasn’t long before Ruby took a deep breath before stepping away and walking around to face the other girl, ready to ask her question.

“Weiss?” Ruby asked, heart thumping.

“Yes, Ruby?” Weiss asked, obviously a tad distracted by the surroundings. Ruby took hold of Weiss’ hands in order to pull the girls attention towards herself. It seemed to work.

“Weiss, would you please go out with me?” Ruby blurted out, her nerves getting the better of her. She mentally facepalmed with a cringe as Weiss stared back at her.

“That… well, that probably wasn’t one of my best moments… I coulda gone about that in a much better way.” Ruby muttered to herself. It wasn’t said loudly but in the quiet of the night, Weiss obviously heard. She quickly snapped out of her daze and jumped up to wrap her arms around Ruby.

“You do not need to be any more convincing, Ruby. I honestly just can not believe that you got around to asking that question before me.” Weiss calmly muttered into Ruby’s collar. Ruby giggled lightly.

“You were planning on asking me that too?”

“Yes. Although, I was going to wait for a few more days.” Weiss said with a laugh.

“It looks to me like I beat you too it.” Ruby said happily.

“So it does.” Weiss said with a content sigh.

“So… girlfriends?” She asked. Weiss looked at her closely before giving the other girl a smile. She leaned in and gave Ruby a small and shy kiss, effectively stunning the girl in happy bliss.

“Girlfriends.” And all Ruby could do was smile uncontrollably as the girl she had been attracted to for ages, was wrapped in her arms. The girl who and was now her girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> Yeah, I know. I said I would be taking a break this week  
> that you shouldn’t expect an update. But then I had  
> a conversation with myself (oh shush, we’ve all been there)  
> and I realized that if I were to push myself for one more week,  
> I could get this special little chapter done in time  
> for valentines day! So… I did hehe…  
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> It’s about time we got to this point and I know  
> that a lot of you were waiting for this  
> (my editor certainly was lol). If any of you have suggestions  
> for future chapters, let me know in the suggestions!  
> Thanks for all the support!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 18

Weiss was absolutely overjoyed at this turn of events. Ruby had just requested that they be an official couple! How else should she react other than be completely overjoyed and happy? Well, she could act prim, proper and cold. Just like her father had taught her so long ago. But those lessons had long since faded.

They hadn’t disappeared though and Weiss was determined not to act like a love-struck fool upon returning to their party. Although even then, Weiss couldn’t keep a smile from constantly setting itself upon her face. A quick glance to her right showed that Ruby couldn’t either, although she couldn’t remember the last time Ruby had been able to keep a smile off of her face for longer than fifteen minutes anyways.

They walked to the end of the path in gleeful silence. Upon reaching the eaves of the branches they stopped and the silence started to turn awkward. Weiss realized that she had to find something to say soon. She turned to face Ruby, who quickly noticed and turned to face her as well. The other girls head was tilted in curiosity, something Weiss found to be almost too cute.

“So… I was wondering when you had the time to set that all up. I mean, you did not exactly leave for any length of time and setting up something like that must have taken some time.” Ruby grinned widely at the question, which had been posed as a statement.

“I had Yang and Blake to help me! Carving and painting all those roses was all me though. It took forever too.” Ruby replied with a happy laugh. Weiss noticed that Yang was watching them, not at all inconspicuously. 

“I should have known that Blake had something to do with this.” Weiss said with a light laugh of her own.

“Well, Yang and Blake have a habit of dragging each other into things. They’re kinda like lil bumblebees… Always working together to get things done. Like bringing food back to their next…” Ruby trailed off for a few moments as Weiss watched the thoughtful look on the slightly taller girls face turn to one of embarrassed realization.

“Ants. I meant they’re like ants. Ya know, the working together and all that…” Ruby said while twiddling her thumbs. Weiss only laughed before, after a slight bit of hesitation, leaning over and giving the other girl a kiss on the cheek.

“I think that the whole bumblebee thing works perfectly, Ruby. Yang’s favorite color is yellow after all and Blake’s is black, so there’s that too.” Ruby smiled, both at the comment and the kiss she had unexpectedly received.

“I didn’t think you knew Yang’s favorite color. Seems to me like you’re starting to warm up to my ‘brute of a sister’.” Ruby teased gently, using Weiss’ favorite term for Yang. Weiss crossed her arms and huffed in response.

“As if. I only wanted to get to know the family of my newest friend. The one that just happens to have become my girlfriend, might I add.” Ruby only giggled in response.

“Well, should we go rejoin our party? It’s kinda rude that the hosts of the party just kinda up and left.” Weiss looked back at Ruby with a smile.

“Well, since you seem to realize how rude it was, I shall let you take all the blame.” Weiss said with a happy demeanor. Ruby sputtered for a few seconds before running to catch up.

“Hey! I can’t take all the blame for that! I mean it’s not like it’s my fault you’re so freaking hot! Oh… uh…” Weiss turned around as Ruby ran her hand through her hair in a way that was familiar to Yang’s nervous fidgeting. Weiss had never known someone so free and honest about their compliments. She kind of liked it.

“Maybe not and so I suppose you can not take all the blame.” Weiss replied with a smile. Ruby slipped her hand into Weiss’.

“So I take it things went well, eh Rubes?” Yang said from behind Weiss. Ruby grinned happily.

“Yeah! I was kinda expecting it to backfire and all that stuff though.” Blake gave a soft snort, something that Weiss was sure she had picked up from Yang.

“I don’t think it ever could have backfired on you, Ruby. I don’t think you understand how much Weiss here likes you.” Weiss nearly choked on her own saliva as her face turned bright red. Her pale complexion only made in spread across more than just her cheeks.

There was plenty of laughter for the next few minutes as Weiss suffered from her embarrassment. If it had been three years ago, she would have acted above it all but this was now.

“We should get back to the party.” Weiss said, trying to change the topic. She moved around Yang, only to stop when she saw what was behind them. Sitting on the picnic table was Pyrrha and Jaune, both of which were asleep. They just happened to be asleep and leaning on each other. They also happened to be holding hands as well. Weiss’ smile quickly returned as she pulled out her phone and took a quick picture.

“They look prettyyyyy cute together, don’t they?” Nora said from next to her. Even though Weiss hadn’t noticed her come up beside her, she wasn’t surprised in the least.

“Absolutely. I plan to send this to the two of them.” Weiss said with a small grin.

“I’m sure the two of them will be thoroughly embarrassed.” Came the reply from Ren, who was sitting on the grass next to Nora, who flopped down onto his lap without so much as a word.

“Well, it looks to me like everyone here is a couple now.” Weiss mused as Ruby slid her arm through her own with a smile, effectively linking them together.

“Yeah! And it took the two of ya long enough to finally get together!” Yang practically yelled. Blake smacked her with an arm but the smile she was wearing betrayed her amusement.

Nora snickered as Ren shook his head with a smile. Ruby and Weiss shared a glance and a smile. Yang and Blake held each other close as they listened to the soft music that was playing. Eventually a song that both Ruby and Weiss recognized came on.

“Hey! I know this song.” Ruby said happily.

“Me too! Let’s dance Ren!” Nora cried out as she jumped to her feet, dragging Ren up with her.

“That sounds like an awesome idea to me.” Yang said in agreement.

“Well, I suppose we should join them.” Weiss said quietly to Ruby. They all ended up slowly dancing for the next few hours, laughing and talking to each other to pass the time.

\--------

Ruby yawned loudly before rolling over as she tried to wake up. Instead of becoming a burrito of blankets on her bed, however, Ruby instead found herself falling to the floor with a loud thud. She just laid there for the next few moments before finally letting out a loud groan into the carpet.

It didn’t take long for Weiss to tiredly stumble into the room. She didn’t look quite as elegant as Ruby knew she usually tried to be but seeing as they currently lived together, neither of them minded. Weiss let out a small yawn that Ruby found to be absolutely adorable. A sigh quickly followed as Ruby chuckled sheepishly.

“I told you it was a bad idea to fall asleep on the couch, Ruby.” Weiss said before sitting down heavily on an armchair that was situated in the living room as well. It was a new addition to their furniture.

“But I was tired last nightttt. We were up until really late at our little party. I just kinda fell asleep on the closest thing when I walked through the door.” Weiss sighed with a smile on her face as she shook her head.

“Well, instead of laying on the floor all day, how about you come over here and join your new girlfriend.” Ruby smiled and hopped up off the floor in excitement. The whole fact that they were now dating still hadn’t fully sunken in but they both seemed determined to enjoy themselves.

Ruby practically skipped over to where Weiss was sitting, watching her smile grow before walking right past the girl. She giggled as she heard Weiss gasp in disbelief. She was absolutely sure that Weiss would be pouting at this point too, which would’ve been great to see.

“Sorry, Weiss! Food first! I just woke up so I need some breakfast.” Ruby said as she headed to the kitchen. She could hear Weiss mumbling to herself while she pulled out something to eat.

“Do you want anything Weissy? I’m gonna make some pancakes if you want some!”

“Just some toast. Maybe a fruit too if we have any.” Weiss replied. Ruby hummed loudly in response as she pulled out everything she needed in order to make her breakfast. It wasn’t long before she heard a light scuffling from the living room.

“Wait just a minute. Did I not specifically tell you that you are no longer allowed to do the cooking anymore? Not after you nearly burned the apartment down.” Weiss said sternly as she set a hand on Ruby’s shoulder in order to stop her.

“Heyyyy. That was only once! I promise I won’t burn everything down Weissy.” Ruby said sweetly. Weiss narrowed her eyes at Ruby in response.

“Okay well, first of all, that ‘one time’ happened on three different occasions. Second, what’s with this whole ‘Weissy’ thing?” Weiss demanded. Ruby only smiled and scooted away from the kitchen slowly. The last thing she saw of Weiss was a smile as she shook her head.

“Just be quick pleaseeeee. I’m starving!” Ruby whined once she reached the living room. The response didn’t take long to reach her either.

“You’re always starving, Ruby.” Weiss replied with a snicker from the other room. It wasn’t long until Weiss walked out into the living room with a tall plate of pancakes and a small plate with her own food.

“No, I’m not!” Ruby pouted as she took the plate of pancakes. She quickly stuffed multiple pancakes in her mouth at once while trying to pout.

“Your devilish little pouting does not work quite so well with your mouth stuffed. Especially when you are only proving my point.” Weiss said with a laugh, sitting down on the same chair Ruby was on. She was effectively sitting on Ruby’s lap at this point, not that either of them minded though.

Ruby tried replying but quickly gave up when she realized that it wasn’t going to get her point across. Instead, she settled for setting her pancakes off to the side just barely long enough to give Weiss a quick hug. There was a hum of happiness as Weiss grabbed a few papers off of the coffee table.

\---------

“Hey Weisssss. I’m bored. Let’s go out and do something!” Ruby whined, laying her head on Weiss’ lap as she worked on her editing.

“Maybe in a little bit, Ruby. I have to finish this before my deadline first.” Weiss replied smoothly, patting Ruby’s head to placate her.

“But your deadline is in, like, a month! You can take a break for just a little while, Weiss.” Ruby said with a pout. Weiss leaned back with a sigh, lowering her paper so that it lay on Ruby’s face.

“I suppose we could do something.” Weiss said carefully. Ruby almost jumped over the back of the couch in excitement.

“Yay! I heard there was this new arcade downtown we could go to! Or that new bakery! I heard they have really great cookies. Or maybe the movies? I saw some pretty fun movies came out pretty recently. Oh-” Weiss placed a single finger on Ruby’s mouth in order to hush her.

“You are rambling again. And how would you feel about dinner? We can stop by the bakery afterwards but it is getting a bit late in the evening to go out to an arcade or movie.” Weiss said with a smile on her face.

“It’s only, like, six though.” Ruby mumbled.

“Yes, but we were out at the park until around two in the morning last night remember? We should try and get some sleep tonight.”

“Okay, okay. I guess you’re right. So dinner and dessert? I guess this’ll be our first official date then, huh?” Ruby said giddily. Weiss nodded happily as well.

“So it seems.”

“Well, should I pick you up at six thirty sharp then? Would be rude not to pick my girlfriend up.” Ruby asked with a giggle.

“Just make sure you do not forget the bouquet of flowers.” Weiss asked with a quick wink as she stood to go get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> So, really the only suggestion I got was  
> for more White Rose! So I, your diligent and  
> beloved author, of course, couldn’t  
> deny such a request! I’m sorry I didn’t  
> update last week though but like I said,  
> I desperately needed a break from my writing.  
> But I’m back and ready to write! Maybe.  
> If my brain would cooperate with me that is.  
> Leave some comments down below if you’d like  
> to leave some suggestions or ideas. Everything  
> helps! Either it will help inspire me or it’ll help  
> introduce more people to my story! Thanks for  
> everything! Love ya all!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 19

Weiss was just putting on the finishing touches for the outfit she had quickly chosen. She had probably only taken half an hour to get ready for dinner but she was sure that Ruby had been waiting on her for at least a little while. That girl had some skill when it came to getting ready quickly and yet still looking her best.

“That should be good enough for our first date… Right?” Weiss mumbled to herself, hoping that she wouldn’t show how nervous she really was.

“I probably should not overthink this. Ruby is probably waiting for me anyways.” Weiss reasoned with herself. After one last quick inspection of her outfit, she was walking out into the living room. Ruby was supposed to be out here already but after a quick glance around and not finding the girl, Weiss decided to go check the few other rooms in the apartment.

“Ruby?” Weiss called out, confused as to where she could have gone. After a few minutes of looking around their small living area to no avail, there was a knock on the door. Weiss let out a sigh, not at all excited about the prospect of dealing with someone right before her date.

“Yes? How may I help you?” Weiss asked as she pulled the door open, only to be greeted by the pleasing sight of a beautiful, young adult holding out a bouquet of white roses with a large smile.

“Heya, Weiss! I’m here to pick you up for our date. You didn’t forget about it already did you?!” Ruby said happily with mock horror at the end. Weiss couldn’t keep herself from smiling.

“Now how could I forget that I was planning to spend an entire evening with such a beautiful woman?” Weiss said as she gingerly accepted the flower, holding them close with a gentle smile gracing her face. Ruby giggled at the response before watching Weiss standing in the doorway, thoroughly enjoying the flowers.

“We should get going soon. We don’t want it to be really late by the time we get back, remember? You’re the one who said we need sleep, after all.” Ruby said, holding her hands behind her back while leaning forward with a smile.

“You are right. Just let me put these in a vase real quick.” Weiss said, noticing the gleam in Ruby’s eyes. Even she could notice how excited the girl was, which was a good thing as it meant they were both going to enjoy themselves.

Ruby waited as patiently as she could, which wasn’t very patient, for Weiss to put the beautiful bouquet of flowers into a vase for their table. Weiss could see the other girl fidgeting and almost hopping around out of her peripheral vision. One might say it was annoying or bothersome. In fact, Weiss had no doubt that just shy of a year ago she herself probably would’ve thought the same thing. However, now she saw it as a more endearing trait of Ruby’s.

“Alright, alright. No need to bounce until the ceiling pops. I am ready to go now.” Weiss said jokingly, hoping to earn a laugh out of her date. She wasn’t disappointed when Ruby giggled in response.

“Took you long enough Weiss! We’re gonna be late for our reservation at this rate.” Ruby replied with a smile.

“Wait, we have a reservation?” Weiss said, slightly panicked at the thought of missing it. Ruby snorted in response as if the question in and of itself was funny.

“Of course we don’t. I barely had time to go get you some flowers and get back here, let alone make some reservations.” Ruby said, causing Weiss to relax a bit.

“Speaking of the flowers, you really did not have to do that.” Weiss finally said after a moment of silence.

“But you told me not to forget the flowers!” Ruby said with a pout.

“I was only joking, Ruby. But it was really kind of you to go out of your way to get them.” Weiss said quickly, hoping to stop the pouting. Instead of receiving a smile though, she received a look of extreme and exaggerated shock.

“You made a joke?! You, Weiss, made a joke? Is the world ending?” Ruby teased, poking Weiss’ side before quickly moving out the door and into the hallway so as to avoid getting smacked.

“Hush, you.” Was the only response that Weiss could come up with as her face slowly turned red. Nevertheless, she followed Ruby out and down the hall, not wanting to be left behind.

“Slow down, you dolt. You are gonna run into something and get yourself hurt.” Weiss said as she slowly sped up in order to keep up with the energetic girl. Ruby only spun around and gave her a wink before disappearing around the corner. When a loud thud sounded out, Weiss got worried and slowed down before turning the corner. After all, she didn’t want to repeat Ruby’s mistake of running around a corner blindly.

“Ruby? Are you okay? I heard a-” Weiss stopped mid-sentence as she turned the corner, only to be greeted by a quick kiss on the nose.

“Aww, I missed.” Ruby said with a pout. Weiss’ blush, which had quickly disappeared when she heard the thudding sound, returned in full force. Ruby’s pout turned into a proud little smirk.

“Wait a minute, what was that loud thudding from? I do not see anything broken and there is not anyone else around so it could not have been anything like that.” Weiss demanded to know. Ruby’s little smirk quickly turned to a sheepish smile.

“Well, you see… I uh… kinda tripped.”

“On what?” When she didn’t get a response, Weiss looked around for herself. After a quick look around and discovering nothing new, the realization hit her and she started to giggle into her hand.

“Weissssss, don’t laughhhh. We can’t all be super coordinated.” Ruby whined.

“No, you are right. But, even so, most people can manage not to trip when there is nothing around to trip on. Pretty clever trying to cover the whole thing up with a kiss attempt though.” Weiss said with a happy chime in her voice. Ruby’s whining quickly faded away when she heard the happiness that was present.

“I can be sneaky sometimes.” Ruby said with a smile as she started to head towards the car. She didn’t get very far before looking back and waiting for Weiss to walk alongside her. It wasn’t long before Ruby slipped her hand into Weiss’ as they kept walking.

“I do not doubt it. Now, where did you plan on us eating? I take it you have a plan, seeing as how we just walked past the car?” Weiss asked curiously as they started to head down the sidewalk.

“Of course I do! I have the perfect place to eat!” Ruby replied with her ever-present cheerful demeanor. Weiss hummed in acceptance, knowing that Ruby wasn’t going to tell her until they got there. Despite being quite talkative, that girl seemed to know how to hold a secret when the occasion called for it.

\-------

“Junior’s Steak House?” Weiss asked skeptically as they stood outside of the restaurant of Ruby’s choice.

“Yeah! I heard he also owns a bar somewhere but I’m not really sure. But I thought a nice little walk and then someplace where we can sit and eat for a while would be nice.” Ruby said with a beaming smile. Weiss rolled her eyes, although she also couldn’t prevent her lips from twicthing upwards into a small smile.

“You probably just wanted to eat some good quality meat.” Weiss stated. Ruby stuck her tongue out before replying.

“You can’t prove anything!” Ruby said jokingly before walking in. It wasn’t at all what she expected from a steak house though. Yang had taken her to a few but this one seemed nicer than those.

“This place is not quite what I expected.” Weiss said as they walked through the entrance. It didn’t take them long to get checked in and seated. There wasn’t a lot of business right now thankfully.

“This place smells absolutely great! I’m starving.” Ruby said happily as they looked through everything they could order. Weiss hummed to herself.

“Oh, my. It looks like they have a Jamon Iberian.” Weiss said with more than a little interest.

“Really? What’s that?” Ruby asked Weiss while looking to find it.

“It is a type of ham that is really expensive. It can range between nine hundred and eighteen hundred dollars for a fifteen-pound leg.” Weiss stated in an offhand manner as Ruby gapped.

“Well, I guess that means it’s really good? And also that we’re not gonna be trying it.” Ruby replied with a dejected sigh.

“Of course we are going to order some. We will not get to try much but it looks like they serve a small amount of it with a hearty bread. It should make a good appetizer.” Weiss gave Ruby a smile.

“But… it’s as expensive as an entire entree still…” Ruby worried. They didn’t have an indefinite supply of money, even if her paintings had large payouts on occasion.

“You are right but you will find that it is definitely worth it. It is absolutely delicious.” Weiss said with a small hum, obviously happy with this turn of events.

“Alright! If you say so! But what are we gonna actually have to eat?” Ruby pondered. Weiss set down her menu after only a few moments of consideration. Ruby took much longer to figure out what she wanted to eat herself though. The waiter came and went as they placed an order for their appetizer and drinks. Soon enough they had ordered the rest of their meals too. It wasn’t long after when their appetizer arrived too.

“This doesn’t look like much, Weiss… It’s just some thin little pieces of meat and some bread with oil.” Ruby said skeptically while picking up a slice of bread and ham. Weiss delicately grabbed some for herself without saying anything, preferring to let Ruby figure things out for herself.

“Oh my gosh! This is great!” Ruby said while repeatedly stuffing more of the ham into her mouth. Weiss on the other hand nearly choked when she saw how fast Ruby was scarfing down the food.

“If you do not slow down you are going to choke!” Weiss said in a worried voice. It was certainly a pleasant start to their first date. Smiles and laughter were quite commonplace for the rest of the evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> Guysssss I’m really sorry that this chapter  
> is so short. I’ve been quite distracted lately heh…  
> But anyways, I hope you all like this! I only had the chance  
> to write the beginning of the date.  
> I promise I’ll try and get a full chapter next week though!  
> But if you all want to help me out a bit you can  
> always leave little bits of advice! Or leaving  
> lil pieces of inspiration in the comments always  
> motivates me! I love ya guys!  
> Oh! And I've been asked for a Bumblebee chapter!  
> If enough of you want it I'll make a one-shot of how  
> they're doing! It'll go in my one-shot collection though.  
> But let me know if you all would like that!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 20

 

“Man, that dinner was great! They had some awesome food there! What was it that you got again?” Ruby asked with a hum as they walked down the street, heading in the general direction of their shared apartment. Weiss followed next to her, gently trying to guide Ruby towards another place without her knowing it.

“It was a pretty nice pork chop if I recall correctly. A kurobuta cut.” Weiss said, taking a step off the sidewalk with the intent of crossing the street. Ruby followed without much hesitation.

“Yeah and what else was there? There was this little orange sauce and veggies too!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Yes, it was a yam puree and vegetable medley. There were fried carrot crisps and a pan sauce too before you ask.” Weiss said with a light chuckle. She knew what was coming next too. 

“And it looked so delicious too! It sucked that you didn’t let me eat much of it.” Ruby said with a pout. Weiss rolled her eyes.

“Ruby, you ate almost half my food.” Weiss said with a light scoff. She couldn’t help but smile though as they continued to walk past the apartments.

“No, I didn’t! It wasn’t nearly half of it.” Ruby replied dejectedly.

“Well, either way, were you not happy with your own ribeye steak? I mean, you did get those mashed potatoes you were so excited about.”

“Of course I was! My food was great! But… well, I’m still kinda hungry is all.” Ruby said the final words in a quieter voice. Weiss snorted when she said this, covering her mouth with one hand when she realized it. Ruby only snickered to herself until Weiss sent a glare her way.

“Hush, you.” Weiss huffed and started walking faster, quickly nearing her destination.

“But, Weiss! That little snort was really cute! It was like a lil baby pig and it was just so cute.” Ruby said in teasing voice, acting like she was talking to a baby dog. Weiss just gapped at her in response before deciding that she wasn’t going to speak to her for at least the rest of the night. So instead she crossed her arms and turned away after stopping in front of one of Vale’s largest dessert shops.

“Weiss… this is…” Ruby said quietly, obviously finally noticing where they were. Weiss ignored her and continued walking. Ruby stuck close to her but didn’t speak much after that. Weiss slowly got more and more bothered by the fact that she wasn’t speaking at all.

“Ruby, what is it?” Weiss said in a none to gentle voice and almost immediately cringing at the tone. Ruby didn’t seem to notice it though, as she kept fidgeting and looking around desperately

“I-it’s nothing, Weiss. But this place is pretty big and we should leave so no one sees us at all I think.” Ruby said quickly, flashing her a smile that did nothing to make her believe that nothing was wrong.

“Ruby, this is the last place anyone would look for me. I was quite well known for disliking desserts of any form.” Weiss said, peering closer to the other girl as they reached the front of the busy building.

“Y-yeah but still, who kn-” Ruby was cut off by another voice from behind the counter, which caused Ruby to jump with slightly widened eyes before turning around.

“Welcome to Sayori’s Cinnabun Shack! How can I help you?” A cheery voice called out. Weiss turned around to find a red-head with plenty of freckles smiling cheerfully at her.

“Just gimme the rope so I can hang myself.” Ruby muttered under her breath.

“Ruby? What would you like to get?” Weiss asked, deciding to question Ruby more after they left. The red-head across the counter looked quizzically at her before peering around to see Ruby.

“Friend Ruby! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you! This is sen-sational!” Ruby visibly flinched when she was addressed.

“Heyyy, Penny. Long time no see, eh?” Ruby said unenthusiastically. Weiss steps aside and watches with interest.

“Absolutely! I haven’t seen you since we broke up last year!” Penny says cheerfully, making Weiss nearly choke on her spit.

“Y-yeah, since that happened. Anyways, how have you been?” Ruby asked nervously.

“Well, the first few weeks were definitely painful, don’t get me wrong. But now I’m doing wonderful! What about you? Oh! And who’s this you came here with?” Penny asked, directing her attention towards Weiss as she tried to hide her coughing fit.

“Ah… Well, you see…” Ruby sends a pleading gaze her way, so Weiss steps in to save her drowning girlfriend.

“I am Ruby’s current girlfriend. Nice to meet you. It was Penny right?” Weiss asked pleasantly, seeing no need to start a fight with an ex.

 

“Really? That’s amazing! I never expected Ruby to end up seducing the Ice Queen’s little sister!” This time both Weiss and Ruby nearly choked at the same time, obviously not expecting for Weiss to be recognized.

“Penny, please keep it down! We don’t want her to be found! Please!” Ruby practically begged. Penny gave them a horrified expression.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to cause you two distress! I won’t say anything, I promise!” Penny quickly cried out, causing the other two to sigh in relief, Ruby much more visibly than Weiss.

“So, Penny, what would you suggest that I order?” Weiss said after she deemed the awkward silence extended long enough. Penny beamed happily at the question.

“Well, that depends! We’re a big dessert shack, I tried changing that by the way, and so we have something for most peoples tastes!” Weiss thought for only a moment before continuing.

“I have never been big on sweets. So, if you have something that isn’t too sugary that would be great.” Penny giggled at the reply.

“Wow! You’re like the polar opposite of Ruby, ya know that?” Penny said as Ruby grumbled something from the sidelines. Weiss let off a soft hum before gently taking Ruby’s hand, causing the other girl to relax slightly.

“Well, for you I would suggest an unsweetened tart. That seems to fit you if I do say so myself. Although if you’re into things such as wine, we have a wine based ice cream. It’s usually used as a palate cleanser in five-course dinners but that’s beside the point.” Penny said, all business now. The girl went on to name a few other items but they all seemed to get further away from what she wanted.

“What about an unsweetened cake?” Weiss asked.

“So… you want some bread?” Ruby asked, earning a quick smack to her side. Penny smiled before continuing.

“We do have a sugar free cake that has a thin silver frosting. If you’d like though I can get you a piece without any frosting since we put it on fresh. I feel like it would add at least a tad bit of flavor though.” Weiss contemplated her options before deciding.

“Alright, I will have a taste of the cake. You can go ahead and put on the frosting too. If I do not like it, I can always feed it to Ruby.” Weiss said with a smile before handing Penny her credit card.

“Wait, Weiss. Don’t I have to choose something too?” Ruby asked.

“Of course not. I came here to try it for myself while you watch.” Weiss said, causing Penny to giggle quietly as she handed over a back that definitely held more than just one dessert item. Ruby followed with a pout that Weiss struggled to fight against while walking off.

“Soooo… Now you know why I wanted to leave heh…” Ruby said awkwardly.

“Yes… So I guess she was your ex…” Weiss said, not exactly knowing what else to say. This sort of thing happened all the time, just not ever with her. Although that’s probably because the only other person she’d ‘dated’ was an egocentric… jerk, to put it kindly, that got murdered before she ever even started dating anyone else.

“Weiss? You doing okay?” Ruby asked, standing in front of the platinum-haired girl. Weiss took a startled step back when she finally noticed Ruby.

“Y-yeah, I am fine. I was just thinking is all.” Weiss said with a shaky breath. She knew something was going on. Something wrong. She just didn’t know what and it worried her.

“You were thinking about that Cardin guy again weren’t you? Or maybe the two stalkers?” Ruby asked gently. Weiss could only nod as they continued walking. There was silence for only a short amount of time before Weiss finally decided to break it once more.

“So, how did you know?”

“Well, every time that you’ve gotten extra quiet so far, it’s been when you were thinking about those people. So I kinda just assumed I guess…” The silence continued as they started to cross the street with a small group of people. Weiss noticed Ruby stop and turn to look down the street and so paused to wait for her. 

Instead of Ruby continuing to walk with her though, she felt herself getting shoved forward as the loud roaring of an engine filled her ears. A large car ran through the space where she, Ruby, and a half a dozen other people had just been standing. Except now, instead of just a few pedestrians, there were also more than a few bodies as well. And Weiss couldn’t see Ruby as she stared about in complete shock.

\-------

A man practically stormed down the alleyway towards the meeting center. One could tell with just a quick look that he was furious. His hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched when he stopped at the end and waited, practically frothing at the mouth in rage. Eventually, though, a shadow emerged from one of the corners of the alley.

“What is it, Tyrian? Why did you wish to speak to me?” Came a mechanized voice.

“I want to know, what the hell that was! I was the one you hired, so why is it that I see someone making a mess of everything out there? It was a sloppy attempt.” Tyrian growled in anger. The shadow with a mechanized voice was silent for a bit before responding.

“I never explicitly said that you were the only one I hired though. You may be my primary choice but if someone else can get the job done quicker and cheaper than so be it. Besides, seeing as how I keep my identity secret and how I keep the identities of each individual I deal with separate, no one can do much backtracking if they get arrested.” The mechanized voice spoke out once more.

The two people stood in the dark alleyway, staring each other down. Eventually, Tyrian relented though and backed away with a sneer. This was just another job so no need to get into an unprofessional fight. Just complete the kill, have some fun, and get paid. That’s what he’d do.

“Before you leave, Tyrian. I believe you know something I’d like to have shared to me.” The person in shadows said as Tyrian turned to leave, causing him to let out a low growl.

“What is it?” He snapped. He really wasn’t in the mood for anything other than some good ‘ol fashioned blood and guts right now.

“Where are they? I know you waited around to see.”

“The girl practically dragged her girlfriend to that bookworms house. Don’t know why though, seeing as they could’ve gone to the hospital or police station even if they had waited a few more minutes. It would’ve been better for them.” Tyrian said with a smirk. He doubted anyone else had stayed long enough to see any of that. He wasn’t sure how many other people had been hired but this one in specific seemed to be a greenhorn. And that was something he could work with.

“Alright. Well, consider this your warning for not taking the job seriously. If you continue to treat this as a game, I’ll have to tell everyone their location. Don’t disappoint me and continue with your task as instructed.” The mechanized voice said one last time before retreating back into the shadows and disappearing.

Tyrian turned and left with a sneer once again present on his face. So far this was not an enjoyable job. If it didn’t pay so well, he would’ve quit already. But he liked these girls he was hunting. And the person who hired him said that when the day came, he could play with them first. And so he would look forward to that day, planning with care all of the ways he would give them hope before ripping it away. All just to see a single look on their faces, one that would bring him pure joy. Torture was so fun…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> So… I guess it’s time y’all saw the dark side of this story in  
> more depth. I don’t plan on making this story horribly dark  
> though so don’t worry, I just wanted to show you all  
> that not all these characters are light and happy and all that.  
> After all, the people out there who kill  
> for money, do it because they enjoy it.  
> So why make it any different in here? In fact, with  
> Tyrian I kinda had to go one step further than  
> just the enjoyment of taking another person’s life.  
> But that’s not the news I was really excited to give!  
> This week I received my first fan art! And it’s absolutely gorgeous!  
> If you guys want to see it, you can check out my Tumblr page!  
> (I should probably share that with you…) You can find my Tumblr  
> account in the description of my FFN/AO3 account!  
> This chapter is probably a little late and I apologize for that  
> but my editor is a bit busy this week and so she’ll get to it  
> when she had the time. Meanwhile, I should work on the  
> next chapter! Or something for White Rose Week!  
> Oh and uh… sorry for that cliffhanger moment with Weiss…  
> but to be fair, y’all did want me to move things along  
> instead of letting them have this first date in peace lol  
> And Happy 20 Chapter mark! Also, Happy 10k reader mark lol.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 22

“Weiss? Weiss!” Ruby called out to her girlfriend, trying to get her attention as the girl stared back into the street with wide eyes. Ruby herself was working desperately not to look, even though she wanted to. She already didn’t enjoy seeing blood but she knew that a couple of people were majorly wounded by the vehicle. She had barely been lucky enough to get out of the whole fiasco with a dislocated shoulder and road burn on her face.

“C’mon, Weiss….” Ruby tried waving her hands in front of the other girls' eyes but quickly realized that plan wasn’t working either. Weiss seemed to have gone into shock. Probably because she hadn’t seen her under the large buffoon that had landed on her seconds after she got out of the way of the car.

“This isn’t good…” Ruby mumbled to herself as she took the girls hand and led her away from the scene. She needed to get Weiss away from the view so she could try and bring her back. Thankfully, Weiss offered no resistance.

A block or two away, Ruby finally decided to stop and try again. After another couple of moments of trying in vain, Ruby took a step away to think. It didn’t take her long to realize that she should probably call Yang, causing her to pull out her phone.

And find that it was broken. It wouldn’t have been too bad of a break really if she actually knew her password and the fingerprint scanner wasn’t broken. She sighed heavily and slumped down. Not much later though, she perked up again and went looking for Weiss’ phone. Thankfully, she did know that password.

“Ahhh, here we go!” Ruby called out, causing Weiss to flinch but still not react otherwise. Ruby quickly pulled up Yang’s number and called her.

“Hey, Weiss! What’s up with all the sirens? Oh and Blake says hi by the way.” Yang said as soon as she answered. Ruby was only now noticing that there were sirens passing by.

“Weiss? Nope! Guess again. And tell Blake I said hi as well.” Ruby said, trying to play everything off nonchalantly. She didn’t want Yang to worry much, after all.

“Ruby? Why are you calling on Weiss’ phone? In fact, why are you calling in general? Usually, you would just come over uninvited or something.” Yang says jokingly, a ploy she used often to get Ruby to call her more often. She sounded like she was a little suspicious of what was going on though and so Ruby decided that being up front would probably be the best idea.

“Well… You see… Weiss is kinda in shock or right now and I need you and Blake to help me out a bit?” Ruby replied, not at all confident that Yang wouldn’t blow up.

“Weiss? Is she okay? Are you okay? If she’s in shock I need you to increase blood flow to her head.” Blake was the one who called out, surprising Ruby a little. It was Yang who she had expected to start pounding her with questions. Instead, though, Yang was quiet and Ruby didn’t know what to do.

“I-I-I mean, she doesn’t have any physical injuries but I can’t get her to snap out of this shock. And I’m not exactly sure how to increase blood flow to her head...” Ruby said worriedly. 

“Lay her down gently and raise her legs. Is she injured physically? If so don’t move the injured body parts.” Blake said before she pondered for a few moments. Ruby quickly and gently did as she was told.

“I wonder what could’ve caused this… I mean, you’re still safe after all…” Blake said with worried curiosity.

“W-well… She might’ve seen me get hit by a car… But I didn’t actually get hit by a car! I swear!” Ruby cried out, starting to panic a little.

“Okay, Ruby, calm down. I need you to calm down. This is all gonna be just fine. Yang’s on her way to pick you up.”

“I… I didn’t tell you my location though?” Ruby asked in confusion. She didn’t think she had shared that information.

“Well… Actually, I know your general location is somewhere between Sayori’s Shack and the apartments. Weiss might’ve given us a call to ask about your favorite dessert location while you were in the restroom during your date…” Blake said, obviously realizing that Weiss would have her head for telling Ruby. If she were currently paying attention that is.

“Ah… Yeah… Yang probably should’ve told her that my ex was the head of front house management as well…” Ruby replied, trying to keep her mind off the dreadful state Weiss was in. She didn’t know what to do so she gently held the other girl’s hand. All she knew was that getting upset and other such things could only cause more damage if she wasn’t careful.

“Well she tried but Weiss didn’t exactly stay on the line very long. And I’ll be able to take care of… Her shock…” Blake trailed off and Ruby waited expectantly.

“W-what is it, Blake…?” Ruby asked in worry.

“Well… I don’t think she’s in shock. I mean, shock is caused by a variety of things but I know Weiss doesn’t have heart problems or blood volume issues. She also doesn’t have any allergies. So that only leaves infection and damage to the nervous system.” Blake rattled out each thing like it was nothing. Ruby could only listen and process.

“So… What’s wrong with her than…?” Ruby asked carefully, not know if she really wanted the answer.

“Well, she could just be having difficulty processing everything that just happened? It could be something else but until I see her I’m going to have to make that guess. I can’t really make any other guesses based on what you’ve told me.” Blake said. Ruby sighed and they were quiet for a moment. It wasn’t long after that Yang came around the corner, a worried look in her eyes visible even from this distance. She spotted them and quickly drove over.

“You guys alright? I came over as quickly as I could… uh… without hitting…. Nevermind.” Yang said as she pulled up. After pulling to a stop she quickly helped get Weiss into the car with Ruby next to her.

“It totally doesn’t look like we drugged and kidnapped her.” Yang mumbled under her breath. Ruby ignored her and stroked Weiss’ hair out of her face. It was almost like she was asleep now. Or maybe in a coma. Although Ruby really didn’t understand much about those either.

It didn’t take them long to get to Blake and Yang’s apartment and by the time they were there, Blake was waiting for them outside. Yang jumped out of the car after pulling to a quick stop. Blake was already opening the door by the time she was out of her seat.

Ruby helped get Weiss out, who was slowly starting to respond to things. Ruby gave a worried glance at Blake, who looked more relieved than anything. Yang was waiting by the door when they got there.

“Yeah, it totally doesn’t look like we’re kidnapping this poor girl… All we need is some dark clothes and some ski masks…” Yang muttered to herself while holding the door open. Ruby smacked her on their way in.

“So, Blake? Do you know what’s wrong with her?” Ruby asked in a worried voice.

“Well, it looks to me like she’s just having trouble processing everything. She believes she just saw the love of her life get run over alongside a dozen other people right? So give her a bit of time. When she’s recovered though, you’re gonna need to both be there for her and give her some space. She’s not gonna go through this unphased” Blake said confidently. She had a spark of doubt in her eyes though.

“Alright… If you say so, Blake.” Blake helped Weiss down onto the couch before pulling up a chair for Ruby.

“She’ll be fine, Ruby. She’s tough, even if she looks as fragile as glass.” Blake said with a smile. Ruby looked at Blake, her eyes slightly watered.

“Blake…? I’m a bit scared… I want her to be okay…” Blake gave off a sigh before hugging Ruby.

“I know you are, but as I said - Weiss is tough. And so are you. You’ll both be just fine when this all passes over.” Blake said before rising. She quietly left the room after that, leaving Ruby to her thoughts.

\-----------------

It was dark out by the time Weiss recognized her surroundings. She had spent the last couple of years suffering through a life without Ruby, or at least that what it seemed like to her. In reality, she just felt like absolute garbage.

Weiss let out a soft groan and looked around. She noticed that she was in an unfamiliar place on an unfamiliar couch. Details of the day earlier slowly came back to her. The date, the dessert shop, Ruby’s ex, and finally… 

Weiss sat up and looked around wildly when she remembered the hit-and-run event. Her heart was racing when she finally laid eyes upon Ruby, who was sprawled out on the floor. Upon slightly closer inspection, it looked like Ruby fell out of the nearby chair. The thought gave her a small smile.

“I am glad you are safe…” Weiss said quietly, tears threatening to stream down her face. 

“And we’re all glad you’re okay too, Weiss.” Came Blakes voice from behind her. Weiss turned to see the other girl standing by the doorway, obviously having been camped just outside the room. Blake gave her a small smile and slowly approached her. Weiss only slumped down onto the couch, allowing Blake to come and sit next to her.

“How’re you doing?” Blake asked Weiss, pulling her in for a gentle hug. Weiss didn’t resist much and just accepted the hug. She still felt horrible. She knew that Ruby was fine and so that was a weight lifted, but what she saw wasn’t exactly a pretty sight.

“I will… live.” Was what Weiss managed to get out. Blake didn’t push her further than that though, instead content to just provide support. She knew that Weiss would talk more about it all soon, just not with her. Weiss stared intently at Ruby’s sleeping form. Eventually, Blake gave Ruby a light nudge so that she would wake up. Blake probably shouldn’t, but she’d much rather these two take care of themselves then have Ruby get upset at her tommorow for not waking her.

Ruby awoke with a jolt, almost jumping upright and stood frozen at the sight of Weiss awake. Blake motioned for the girl to move slowly for now and thankfully the usually energetic girl listened. Ruby calmly and gently wrapped her arms around Weiss, both of them completely occupied with the other as Blake slipped away and left them alone once more. They didn’t talk much for the rest of the night, but they were there for each other. And that’s what mattered right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> *Insert Swear Word Here*  
> Holy crap everyone, first off I’m sorry this is late.  
> Second of all, I’m sorry that this is short.  
> Third of all, I’m gonna stop saying sorry cuz otherwise we’ll  
> be here all day XD But anyways, I’m gonna make  
> a small little announcement.  
> So next week I likely won’t be updating.  
> If I feel I can manage it I will but for the  
> most part I need to catch some sleep.  
> I’ve been living off of 4-6 hours a day and  
> it’s been starting to catch up these past few days.  
> Thank you all for your patience and I hope you all enjoyed  
> this chapter! And last thing, I swear! I am  
> totally not sorry for making any of you worry!  
> It was worth it! XD (Although I didn’t get any  
> Punishment or anything so of course it’s worth it lol).


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 23

By the time morning came around, the two tired flowers were asleep once again. It had taken a while, but eventually, Weiss managed to calm herself with Ruby’s help and they eventually drifted off. It wasn’t meant to last though, as the light shining through the window had started to shine right in Weiss’ eyes.

Weiss let out a low groan as she started to wake up, moving so that the sun wasn’t directly in her eyes before opening them. She was greeted by a sight that made her smile, not really recalling anything that happened over the previous day yet. Weiss smiled gently as she watched Ruby slowly wake up from her sleep.

Weiss’ smile faded as she slowly started to recall what happened yesterday. She knew that after everything had happened she was lucky that Ruby was still with her, but she also knew that she wasn’t going to be one hundred percent okay for the next little while. And then there was the feeling that things were only getting started.

“Something wrong, Snowflake?” Ruby mumbled as she pulled Weiss closer to her.

“Probably, seeing as what happened the other day.” Came a voice from above them. They were both startled into sitting upright and turning around. They saw that Blake and Yang were standing on the other side of the couch.

“R-right… that…” Ruby said, looking downward and fiddling with her fingers. Weiss took hold of one of them, causing the redhead to look up at her.

“I will… be fine. It is going to take me a bit of time to be fully back to normal, but I promise I am fine.” Weiss said in a quiet voice. Ruby looked at her closely so Weiss gave a tired smile. It didn’t take long before Ruby gave an accepting nod.

“Just make sure you talk to me if you need anything, Weiss.” Ruby said with obvious seriousness. Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes in an attempt at making her a bit less serious, but to no avail.

“Of course I will, Ruby.” Weiss finally replied. Yang cleared her throat, seemingly both pleased and impatient at the events. She obviously had another topic to discuss so everyone turned their attention towards her.

“Alright, so y’all talking to each other and leaning on each other is great and all, but imma take a wild guess and say you two never actually did anything about that whole stalker event thing. Other than changing your living location that is. So I called in a friend of mine to help us out.” Yang said in a very nonchalant manner. 

“Well… Who is it that you’re ‘calling in’?” Ruby asked cautiously, not really knowing who she should expect. Yang just gave her little sister a pleased smirk.

“Why the junior detectives of course! Remember Neptune? He still owes me a favor for hooking him up with tickets to one of my shows for a date. Oh, and it turns out that Blake here knows Sun, Neptunes’ partner.” Yang said with pride.

“First of all, who would want to go to your show as a date?” Weiss asked, a bit louder than she had intended. Yang scoffed at the question, causing Weiss to grimace, not having meant to insult the blonde girl.

“Second of all, why are you bringing in junior detectives again?” Weiss asked, a bit more clearly now. She had managed to gain a bit of her composure now and was looking much better than when she had first woken up from her little nap last night.

“Ummm… because we can’t afford real detectives? We may be pretty well off, but we can’t hire our own private investigators ya know.” Yang said with a laugh.

“But Yang, why would we need a private investigator?” Ruby asked. Both Blake and Yang just stared at the two of them.

“B-because… uh…” Yang stuttered, not finding the words she needed to say. Blake quickly stepped in to save her though.

“Well, it’s quite obvious that whoever those people were, that hired people to stalk you, are still after you. And they’re getting more violent.” Blake stated.

“I’m… still not quite sure why they would be after either of us…” Ruby finally responded, not bothering to argue against Blakes point.

“Well, there is always my father…” Weiss mutters quietly. Ruby stiffened up at the thought.

“Would he… would your father really do this kind of thing?” Ruby asked, quite shocked at the thought. Weiss stayed quiet for a moment, thinking things through before answering.

“I think that this would be a bit low, even for him. Usually, he would come in and just drag someone home instead. I do not know anymore though. He could have gotten desperate for all I know.” Weiss said with a light sigh. Everyone was quiet for a few moments as they all awkwardly fiddled around. Eventually, though, there was a knock on the door and Yang excused herself to answer it.

“Just so you know, they’re both a bit of the oddball.” Blake warned them when she saw that it was Sun and Neptune who had arrived. Weiss and Ruby shared a look of concern as the two walked in.

“What’s hangin’ people?” A man with messy blonde hair said happily as he entered. A man with blue hair came in right behind him, casting a gaze around the room with a confident smirk. He threw a wink at Weiss and Ruby before looking back towards Blake and Yang after getting elbowed by the other man.

“Alright, so this is Sun and Neptune.” Yang said pointing to first the blonde and then the blue haired man. 

“Good to meet you two!” Sun said with a wide smile. Weiss gave the man a nod while Ruby gave him a small and tired wave.

“Yes, the pleasure is all ours. It isn’t every day when we get to meet such beautiful ladies.” Neptune said with a wink and confident smile. Yang gave him a scowl before quickly smiling again before he could notice.

“Uh… yes. Nice to mee you both. I’m Ruby and this is Weiss.” Ruby said, letting Weiss stay silent.

“Anyways, I think we should talk about why you’re here. After all, we didn’t exactly explain much over the phone.” Blake quickly stepped in, causing everyone's attention to turn towards her.

“Yup! That sounds like a good plan. I mean, we owe ya both small favors and what not, but we can’t exactly do anything unless you talk to us. So what is it? Do you need a little bit of cash? A grocery run? Help hiding a body?” Sun asked, his cheerful mood not swaying.

“Well, it’s good to know that ‘hiding a body’ meets your list for ‘small favor’ and all, but nah we actually needed your junior detective skills. And if everything works out, it could definitely help you out in your career.” Yang said smoothly. It almost seemed like it was practiced, which nearly made both Weiss and Ruby let out a small giggle.

“Of course. Anything for you two.” Neptune replied flirtatiously. Everyone rolled their eyes at him, including Sun.

“He may be… uh… Well, he is right. Anything you need.” Sun said, changing his comment soon enough where Neptune couldn’t say anything, but late enough where he would be able to figure out what was about to be said. Neptune squinted his eyes at Sun for a moment before smiling at all the girls again.

“Well, you see, those two over there had a bit of a stalker problem not to long ago. Not long after they solved that problem, the stalkers ended up dead in a back alley. We found that worrisome. But yesterday, these two idiots also nearly got killed and Blake and I think it was purposeful.”

“Purposeful as in… Like premeditated murder?” Sun asked for clarification.

“More like premeditated manslaughter but yes.” Yang confirmed.

“But… if it was premeditated…” Sun said.

“Don’t worry about it Sun. Anyways, we’d like you to look into the whole thing and try and find out what you can.” Blake finally stepped in and said. Sun nodded his understanding before finally turning his attention back towards Weiss and Ruby, who both let out a small sigh. They knew they’d probably have to explain the whole story themselves. And this wasn’t exactly a simple story. Nor was it easy with Neptune’s ‘appreaciating’ gaze on them.

\-----------

“So, Neptune. What exactly are we looking for again?” Sun asked Neptune as they looked around the scene where the murder of a green haired young lady and a silver-haired young man occurred.

“I’m not sure. Something incriminating?” Neptune responded. He was taking the ‘job’ quite seriously.

“Hmm… I’m pretty sure most evidence won’t be around anymore. It’s been quite some time since this happened after all.” Sun said after a moment of silence. They were looking around in the back of the alley, where the shadows were a constant variable no matter what time of day it was.

“You’re probably right. But this whole thing is pretty suspicious. I mean… Why kill these two? If someone hired them to stalk those two fine looking young ladies so they could keep tabs on them…” Neptune let his sentence trail off. Sun let off a sigh and stretched.

“I feel like we’re missing something. Something big. I mean, we heard their stories and everything, but who would even do this? Who would go through all this effort and why?” Sun let out a groan.

“Dude, you ask me that on quite literally every single case we work on. Granted, most of them have nothing to do with death or stalking, but still. It’s not cool to ask the same thing every case.” Neptune lectured.

“Well, I don’t understand these people! Why would they want to hurt others? Also, why do you care so much about being cool?” Sun replied, nearly starting to rant about how he doesn’t understand why there’s so much evil in the world. Neptune only shrugged.

“Anyways, I still feel like we’re missing something big. How do you think we should proceed with this? There’s got to be something we can do to help Yang and Blake out.” Sun grumbled mostly to himself. Neptune heard still though and tried to think of what they should do next.

“Well, we’re doing this for those other two lovely ladies as well. Ruby and Weiss was it? Anyways, we’re definitely missing something but that’s also nothing new. We just started investigating after all. We can maybe put up some surveillance cameras or something though. See if there’s any suspicious activity that happens in the near future down here.” Neptune said carefully. Sun looked at Neptune in surprise.

“Okay, first off, how about we don’t break any laws by setting up unauthorized and illegal surveillance. And also, you seem quite motivated to get this solved.” Neptune gave Sun a wink.

“Gotta impress the girls, don’t I? Otherwise, how can I expect them to say yes to a date?” Sun sighed and rolled his eyes before going back to looking around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Holy heck I had a lot of trouble with this episode!  
> This was all a bit tense heh… Totally not my fault  
> I swear XD! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed  
> Sun and Neptune’s introduction to the series!  
> I’m not exactly a big fan of writing them tbh  
> and I’m not looking forward to continuing to write  
> them into the story, but I can’t just kill them  
> off either lol. (Or can I…?) But we’re nearing  
> the final stretch of the story! I hope you’re all  
> ready for this! Because I know I am!  
> I’ve got lots of ideas I’m itching to write about  
> and my mind may have been drifting from  
> this story a bit… Which may be why I   
> feel this story has been dropping a little in  
> quality... Anyways, enough of my rambling!  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I’m  
> sorry, it was a bit short. Leave  
> a comment on what you think is going  
> to happen or should happen  
> and hit that favorite ‘button’!  
> Or don’t. It’s up to you :D  
> (Totally not tryna sound like a famous  
> YouTuber or anything heh…)


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 24

“Ruby, I am going to have to go into work today. I have to turn in the paperwork and edited drafts for these past two weeks and pick up the new items. Otherwise, I can not earn my paycheck.” Weiss said, in a slightly frustrated tone. Her temper had been a bit short lately, but she had been trying to avoid taking it out on anyone. Especially Ruby.

“But there are apparently people still out to get us, Weiss… I don’t want you to get hurt is all…” Ruby replied as she fidgeted with her head facing down. Weiss let out a sigh and sat down on the couch, motioning for Ruby to do the same.

“Look, Ruby… I know that there are some things going on that are both dangerous and do not exactly make sense… but we need to continue making a living. If we do not then what are we going to do? We are already slowly running out of funds, even though we are currently living in your sisters living room.” Weiss reasoned.

“B-but, Weiss…” Ruby said with a sigh.

“It will only be for today, Ruby.” Weiss said, taking the other girls hand and placing a small kiss on her lips. Ruby finally let a small smile out.

“I still don’t think that this is a good idea. Make sure you go with Blake or Yang though so that they can make sure nothing bad happens. Deal?” Ruby compromised. Weiss rolled her eyes but nodded.

“Alright. I suppose I can live with that. Blake should be more than willing to accompany me and it would make sense why I am bringing her to work seeing as I edit for her…” Weiss said with a thoughtful look. Ruby pouted at Weiss’ response.

“You’re not even gonna consider Yangggg?” Ruby asked with a trembling lip. Weiss shook her head and tapped Ruby’s forehead.

“Yang is working, remember?” Weiss said with a light laugh. Ruby looked at her with her mouth open for a moment before laughing.

“Yeah, you’re right. As always.” Ruby said before kissing Weiss’ cheek. 

“I would not say I am always right. Just most of the time.” Weiss said with a small smirk. But it didn’t last long before it fell, and she let out a tired sigh.

“You haven’t been sleeping well these past few days have you?” Ruby asked with concern.

“No, not really. I was kind of hoping you had not noticed though.” Weiss replied. Ruby only shook her head, as if that had been the oddest thought in the world.

“Of course I would notice. It’s not like I would just ignore the fact that you started getting up in the middle of the night. Not when it started so suddenly. And right after what happened too… Ya know, if you want to talk about it, I’m here.” Ruby said, giving Weiss a soft hug. Weiss gingerly returned it and nodded.

“Thank you, but I am going to pass. I do not really want to talk about it. Besides, I have to go get ready for work. And talk to Blake.” Weiss said in a soft tone as she stood up. Ruby didn’t argue, but she did have a sad look on her face as she nodded to the other girl.

Weiss left the room to go find Blake. More than likely she was in her room or sitting at her desk. Those were her two favorite places to write she’d noticed. It didn’t take her long to locate Blake, who was actually in the bathroom applying makeup.

“Hey, Blake? Do you plan on going out somewhere?” Weiss asked, unsure what she should do if she was. She would go to work of course, but she wasn’t exactly excited about doing it alone. Even if she told Ruby otherwise.

“Yup. I’m going to work with you. Or did you already forget that?” Blake asked, raising her eyebrows at Weiss in the mirror.

“B-but… I have not even asked you about that yet.” Weiss said, her brow scrunching up in confusion. Blake turned and poked Weiss’ scrunched up brow.

“Don’t do that. You’ll get wrinkles. And I’ll be the one you go complaining to.” Blake said with a smirk on her face. She quickly returned to her makeup though.

“And in case you’re wondering, I overheard you and Ruby while walking down the hall from the study. You two don’t exactly keep an open eye on your surroundings do you?” Blake said with a soft laugh. Weiss only sighed and placed her head in her hands.

“I am sorry. I have been trying to work on that lately…” Weiss said, obviously put out by what Blake had meant as a joke. 

“Well, it’s good that you’re working on that and all, but keep in mind - you aren’t the only one keeping an eye on things. You and Ruby will almost always have either Yang or I looking out for you. I believe Yang is actually supposed to get back right before we leave. If you still head to work at the same time as usual.” Blake said with a smile as she finished getting ready. It wasn’t long before they were ready to head out the door. As they passed back into the living room, Weiss stopped by Ruby and gave her a hug from behind and a kiss on the cheek.

“I am heading out now. Love you.” Weiss said, noticing that Ruby had the picture of her family in her hand, the one that Yang had set up on the coffee table next to the couch.

“Bye Snowflake. Be careful.” Ruby said, setting the picture down in favor of hugging Weiss. Weiss smiled at the nickname that Ruby had recently started calling her.

“I will, Rosebud.” Weiss said, giving one last kiss as she let go and joined Blake by the door.

\----------

“So Yang was not home when we arrived, even though you said she would be. Will Ruby be okay?” Weiss asked as Blake drove the two of them towards her office building. She understood how Ruby felt her being alone now apparently.

“Yang pulled in right as we were pulling out. You should know by now Weiss, I’m almost never wrong.” Blake said, with a smile. Weiss scoffed at the idea presented before her though.

“You are most definitely not always right, Blake. Not even remotely.” Weiss said, thinking of all the edits she has to make for the other girl.

“Oh, but I didn’t say I was always right. Just that I’m almost never wrong.” Blake replied with a sly smile. Weiss only stared at her for a moment before shaking her head and conveniently forgetting to reply.

“Do you think we will be okay…?” Weiss finally asked in a quiet voice. She was honestly quite worried about what all could happen.

“We’ll be fine. I’ll be here to pay attention to everything going on, instead of ogling at you.” Blake replied. Weiss only sighed and stared out the window as they started to pull into the driveway for her work.

“Well, we’re here. Let’s get in and then out so nothing happens.” Blake said as she parked the car. By this point though, Weiss was had already decided that words weren’t necessary for now. She just couldn’t help but think. 

Think of how things could have ended up much worse. Think of who could be behind all this. Think about what would happen to the handful of people that got hurt in her place. Some of those people wouldn’t recover, and it was likely her fault. After all, she was the runaway heiress.

“Weiss, it’s time to go.” Blake said, pulling the platinum-haired girl out of the car and handing her a pile of papers. It was her edits, Weiss noted.

“Why aren’t these in my bag?” Weiss asked in confusion.

“Because a certain someone didn’t put them there and I just grabbed the papers on my way out the door.” Blake said with a roll of her eyes and a soft smile. 

“Oh, I suppose that means I forgot to grab it as well, didn’t I?” Weiss let out a sigh as they started heading towards the building. Jaune tried to stop them and say hi as they passed, and while Blake sent him a smile and a nod, Weiss didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“You could at least say hi to everyone, you know.” Blake said as they entered the building. Weiss slowed to a stop when she heard what Blake had said.

“Yeah… I am just a bit distracted by my thoughts is all.” Weiss gave a small smile and seemed to regain her composure before continuing forward.

“Alright, so where do we have to go?” Blake asked as they started walking through the building. Weiss smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please Blake. You are acting as if you have never come with me to my work before.” Weiss said, giving Blake a smirk and a shake of her head.

“Oh don’t you give me that look. I might have come with you, but I had no idea where we were going or what we were even doing there.” Blake said, giving Weiss a flick on her forehead.

“Ow! What was that for?” Weiss asked, rubbing where Blake flicked. Blake only started snickering in response before speeding up and taking the lead. Weiss narrowed her eyes at the other girl in suspicion but continued to follow, seeing as they were still on the correct path.

“Let’s just get what I need and get back. I don’t want to worry Ruby too much.” Weiss said after a bit of walking. Blake gave her a sidelong glance.

“Oh, so it has nothing to do with you being worried at all? It’s okay to be worried you know. Although it seems like Yang and I share enough paranoia when it comes to the safety of you two to cover all of us.” Blake said with a smile as she glanced up and down an intersecting hallway casually.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Weiss said, a slight frown on her face.

“Well being worried about one's safety is normal… Oh, you meant the part about paranoia for your safety didn’t you?” Blake asked with her ever-present smile. Weiss only narrowed her eyes at Blaker as she snickered.

“Okay fine. Yang and I worry about you two a lot because we care a lot about you. Now the paranoia bit… yes, okay we might be slightly paranoid as well with this. I mean what are the chances that all this would actually happen?” Blake said, laughing to herself as Weiss just listened.

“You are right. This happening is not something that is very likely to happen. But it is happening and we should focus on that. And… thank you for worrying about us. It is nice to know that you two care so much.” Weiss calmly stated.

“Of course we care about you. Ruby is Yang’s little sister and the two of us have been close friends for years. I’ve even had to take care of you before. It’s not exactly strange for us to want you guys safe.” Blake let out a sigh they reached Weiss’ office. They needed to pick up the next set of papers and then head to her supervisor’s office to drop off the old ones.

“Still… thank you. It means a lot to know you are still by my side, even after you have had to deal with me for years.” Weiss said honestly. Blake rolled her eyes again before responding.

“I haven’t had to ‘deal’ with you. I’ve just gotten to enjoy the company of a dear friend and help them when they need it.” Blake smoothly answered. Weiss only smirked as they went about putting papers in the right spots at her desk.

“Well, then I hope you don’t mind me quoting you.” Weiss said matter-of-factly as she straightened up and turned to head towards her supervisors' office.

“Of course I mind you quoting me. You’re just going to use it against me later.”

“Oh please. I quote you all the time in your books when I make edits and half the time it doesn’t bother you.” Weiss said, a smile slowly growing on her lips.

“Well, those are my… wait, you what? Since when do you edit quotes into my books?” Blake asked seriously. Weiss continued walking down the hall though, humming happily as she went.

\----------------

Ruby was lounging on the couch quietly, twidling her fingers as she waited for Weiss to return. Yang was growing impatient and bored as she sat in a nearby chair though, watching over Ruby and the house. Eventually, though, she heard Yang stand up and peak her head into her field of vision.

“Hey, Yang.” Ruby said easily, a small smile growing onto her face as Yang’s hair tickled her face. Yang grinned back at her.

“Heya, sis. You wanna play a trick on Weiss and Blake?” Yang asked nonchalantly. Ruby swatted the older girls hair out of her face with a giggle before answering.

“What kinda trick? We can’t do anything mean like pretend we were kidnapped if that’s what you’re thinking of doing! They’ll both have heart attacks if they come home and find furniture knocked over and us hiding in a closet.” Ruby said in a reprimanding voice. Yang’s eyes lit up as Ruby spoke though and Ruby had a sinking feeling.

“That’s even better than my idea! C’mon, let's go! Practical jokes are always fun! Besides, Blake is always fine with my practical jokes.” Yang said, pulling Ruby off the couch as she tried to fight it.

“Yeah, but this is going a bit far Yang! Weiss’ll kill me! Or worse, she’ll have a heart attack and die herself!” Ruby said, falling back onto the couch when Yang let go of her and turned around with a broad smile. She looked like she was going to say something when there was some loud knocking on the door.

“You… uh… invite anyone over? Yang asked. Ruby only shook her head in response. Yang cautiously walked over to the door as the knocking came again. Ruby followed a little behind, intent on only watching whatever happened for now.

“Hello?” Yang called, not quite opening the door yet.

“Hello, we’re here looking for a Miss Xiao Long! We have come on behalf of the cookie embassy to offer a peace offering towards you and your sister!” Came a familiar voice, which was quickly followed by the sound of someone being smacked.

“Ow, what the hell was that for, Neptune?”

“That wasn’t a very cool way to introduce our presence.” Came the deadpan reply. Yang couldn’t help but smile at the exchange as she opened the door to reveal Sun and Neptune, who were carrying a box of cookies just as promised.

“Yeah, well you know how much I care about being cool, man. In case you don’t remember though, it’s not a lot.” Sun replied as Yang leaned against the doorframe. Neptune quickly noticed her and gave her an apologetic glance.

“I’m sorry, he knows not what he speaks about.” Yang rolled her eyes as noticeable as possible and gave Ruby a look that said ‘Can you believe these two?’. Ruby giggled a little as the two men finally entered the apartment. Yang sent her a quick wink before responding to them.

“Worry not Neptune. In fact, I think Sun’s the cooler one here anyways.” Her response came smoothly and she gave Ruby a grin as Neptune sputtered at her for a few seconds. Sun only snickered and handed the box of cookies to Ruby.

“If you need a few giggles cuz you’re feeling down, I hope you’re ready to get them. ‘Cuz this should be pretty fun to watch.” Sun said as Ruby giggled at the scene, already munching on a cookie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> So I have a few things to say  
> today! First of all, I’m sorry  
> I didn’t update anything last week!  
> I’m really sorry about that, but  
> there was a bunch of drama that popped up  
> and kept me from finishing this chapter.  
> The second thing I want to say is as follows:  
> You guys all might be getting another (shorter)  
> story soon! White Rose of course!  
> This one will be written out completely before  
> I start updating though, and will  
> definitely only happen after this  
> story ends. Speaking of which, it’s  
> looking like we only have a good 6-8 chapters  
> left at most! I also plan on taking a break from this  
> story for White-Rose Week. That way I  
> can contribute to it! The break  
> will mean there won’t be an update the  
> week of and before WRW. So we’ll still get at least 5 or so  
> chapters before then. And lastly! I’ve been  
> busy at work creating a world with a couple of   
> other people! We plan on doing a Role Play with  
> a chunk of other people and if everything  
> goes well, I might edit everything that happens  
> into an actual story for you all! Otherwise, I  
> might use said world for another WR story of mine  
> in general :D Either way, you’ll eventually see the fruits  
> of this specific labor! Now as for the chapter this  
> week! It looks like everyone is a little paranoid  
> at the moment! That’s probably a good thing  
> though! Might save them some trouble!  
> And maybe Sun and Neptune have some  
> good news?! Either way, at least Yang and  
> Blake are good at cheering our beloved  
> Roses up! Anyways, sorry once again  
> about the lack of a chapter last week and I hope  
> the wait was worth it! I love all you loyal readers and  
> I hope you continue to enjoy this!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 25

 

“Alright Weiss, it’s time to head back home. I’m sure Ruby is waiting for you. Or trying to keep Yang from doing something stupid.” Blake said with a smile as they gathered together all of Weiss’s papers for the next couple of weeks.

“That is easier said than done Blake. Everything would have been so much easier if we had just brought a bag.” Weiss said with a groan as they both grabbed as many papers as they could.

“Well, I’m sorry but it wasn’t exactly the most important thing on my mind you know. It still isn’t if I’m being honest.” Blake replied, holding the door open for Weiss as they started to make their way out. They barely made any progress down the hall before a familiar face showed up though.

“Hey, again Weiss and Blake.” Jaune said with a cheerful smile, followed closely by Pyrrha as they turned a corner. Both Weiss and Blake barely stopped before they all collided. Blake gave them both a smile and stepped a bit away, gently pulling Weiss a few steps back as well.

“Hello, Jaune. Pyrrha. I apologize for not saying anything when we passed earlier. I was in a bit of a bad mood I suppose.” Weiss said, giving them both a small smile. She was absolutely sure that they didn’t reach her eyes though.

“Nah, it’s all good! We all have those days after all! I mean, my mother always used to say… uh, well actually that’s not important! I’m glad you’re feeling better though.” Jaune said, causing Pyrrha to giggle a bit by the end.

“Yes, it’s quite good to see you again Weiss. We haven’t seen you at the gym for a little while either. You doing alright? You used to come in at least weekly.” Pyrrha said with a bit of concern. Weiss gave her a smile that reached a bit further, honestly touched that someone had cared enough to notice she hadn’t shown up for a while.

“I have actually been slacking off a bit on my exercise lately. I am probably going to need a bit of help getting back in shape when I start coming back if you would like to help me out?” Weiss offered, much to Pyrrha’s obvious delight.

“I would love to help! Maybe you should bring that friend of yours as well. The one that was at your little party and that you seemed to enjoy spending time around. I’d like to get to know her a bit better since you two seem close.” Came the response. Blake stepped in at this point though, cutting her off before she could formulate much of a response.

“I’m sorry, but we really need to get going. We’re on a bit of a tight schedule, what with all this paperwork that needs to be done.” Blake commented, putting on a friendly face. Weiss had known her for long enough though, to know that Blake truly didn’t trust anyone other than those she personally had known for quite a long time. Neither Pyrrha nor Jaune seemed to notice though, or if they did, they didn’t mind whatsoever.

“That’s a lotta paper you got there Weiss. Need some help?” Jaune offered out his arms, which weren’t carrying anything. Pyrrha smiled but didn’t say anything. Blake just shrugged, leaving the decision to her.

“Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you. And Pyrrha, Ruby and I will come to see you at the gym sometime in the future.” Weiss said, offering up the papers she was carrying. Pyrrha promptly stepped forward and took all but the smallest amount from her and splitting it between herself and Jaune.

“Don’t worry yourself too much about it if you can’t afford to. But if you need our help with anything, just let us know. Your friends are always around to help you know.” Pyrrha offers her words with a genuine and pure smile, almost as if she can tell something unsavory is going on in her life. Blake looked a bit conflicted but didn’t argue.

“Alright, well I will keep that in mind.” Weiss said as they started walking towards the parking lot. They didn’t go far before Blake handed off some of her own load, much to everyone's amusement. They continued to talk on their way, catching up on the small things that they hadn’t talked about in a while. By the time they made it to the car, Weiss was feeling better then she had in days.

“Thank you so much for the help you two.” Weiss said, taking the papers and neatly stacking them in the car so that they could easily be grabbed later. Jaune and Pyrrha both smiled and waited before speaking.

“Well, you certainly seemed like you were having trouble with all those papers. And what’s a gentleman supposed to do other than help a damsel in distress?” Jaune said with a laugh as everyone else rolled their eyes.

“You really looked like you needed someone to talk to. And I get that you have people to talk to and I’m sure they do a great job of it. I just mean you looked like you needed to have a light talk with a friend without worry.” Pyrrha said, motioning to Blake at first, who raised her eyebrow. Pyrrha gave her an apologetic smile before giving Weiss a quick hug and leaving with a wave.

“Well, I’m not really sure what to think about those two… They seemed pretty nice though. Wasn’t that Jaune dude the same one who was always hitting on you some time back though?” Blake asked as she hopped in the car and started it up. Weiss followed not far behind.

“Yes, but he stopped when I told him about me being gay. I suggested him pursuing a relationship with Pyrrha though and that seems to be going well.” Weiss said, noticing Blake get thoughtful. Usually, that wasn’t good.

“How long did it take you to come out of the closet after your realization anyways?” Blake asked, causing Weiss to groan. This wasn’t a question she dealt with often. Or ever, really.

“Like… the next week? I am not sure anymore.” Weiss said as Blake looked at her in surprise.

“The next week? You do realize that some people take years to come to terms with that kinda thing. Let alone tell others. That was bold of you.” Blake said, smiling and nodding her head with an impressed look. Weiss only shook her head in response.

“Of course I came to terms with it pretty quickly. You of all people should know how awkward I have always felt when it comes to the terms of society. And you should also know that I have had to come to terms with a lot of things about myself since leaving. Something like this was… unexpected and a bit hard to swallow at first, I will admit, but after I got it out to the first person it all seemed rather easy to me. Although I am sure most others wouldn’t have such an easy time.” Weiss continued to ramble on for a few more moments before realizing that she was still talking. Blake didn’t even try to hide the smirk on her face.

“It looks like Ruby is, ahem, rubbing off on you. In more ways than one.” Blake responded with a wink. Weiss started to blush at the implications and took a few minutes to stutter out a reply while Blake started the drive home.

“W-we have not started to do anything like that.” Was the only thing she could say, hoping that Blake would leave things at that as they headed home. Thankfully, she seemed content to do so. Either that, or she had something much worse planned soon.

\--------------

“Alright, you two, it’s time we talked!” Sun finally spoke up after Ruby had her fill of giggles.

“Hmm? Ah, right. You guys probably came here for something other than to just try and bribe my sister with cookies amirite?” Yang said, gesturing towards the couch. Ruby quickly jumped into her favorite place, a spot next to a corner table that contained a picture of Yang and her with their father. The picture had a small photo of their mother in one of the corners as well.

“Thank you for the cookies by the way.” Ruby said as she bounced in her seat a few times before coming to a stop. Neptune gave her a wink while Sun fired a finger gun at her, causing her to smile.

“No problem Ruby. Yang told us you liked cookies so we thought we’d bring a house warming gift this time around. If you have an idea of something Weiss’ll like, we can bring those next time.” Sun said, leaning in to whisper the last part before sitting comfortably next to her. 

“Uhm, Weiss isn’t really that into sweets. You could probably buy a set of spa tickets or coupons or whatever you call those things though. I’m sure she’d enjoy for the two of us to go there some time.” Ruby said, stretching herself out in content.

“We’ll keep that in mind. After all, two lovely ladies such as yourselves deserve to hit the spa sometimes.” Neptune said with a wink. Ruby furrowed her eyes a bit but quickly shook and cleared her head.

“Anyways, what did you want to tell us Sun? Good news? Please be good news.” Yang asked hopefully. Her hopeful look faded when they shared looks. It didn’t take long before she groaned out, expecting something bad.

“Well, we don’t know if we’d call this good or bad news. But we might have found out who is after you. We have a few options but first, we have a question or two for you Ruby.” Neptune said, serious all of a sudden. Sun only nodded in agreement.

“Okay… um… well ask away I suppose. What do you need to know?” Ruby asked hesitantly.

“So your surname is ‘Rose’ right? Like the flower rose?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“We’ll get to that in a minute. And you share the same father as Yang, but different mothers, right?” Ruby answered with an affirmative hum, still not understanding where things were going.

“Okay so because of that, you took up your mothers name instead of ‘Xaio Long’?”

“Yeah… So why are you asking all this again?” Ruby asked in confusion.

“We’re almost there. So would that happen to be a picture of your mom? And was her name Summer Rose?” Sun finally asked while Ruby continued to stare at him like he was crazy.

“Yeah…” Came the response after a long pause.

“Did she work as a police officer?”

“Among other things, I think so. It was why she died while I was young I believe.” Ruby said, starting to lose patience but also trying to hide it.

“Well, then I think that the person who’s after you could possibly be someone your mother arrested a while ago. There were a few people who were recently released after 15 years of detainment after being put in jail by her. Among them were people like Adam Taurus, Salem, and Tyrian. Although that last one is more of an escapee then a release.” Sun said, dead serious.

“O-okay… so the person after us could be one of them? But if you know who it could be, they’ll be easier to catch!” Ruby asked as Yang went stiff. Sun nodded.

“Normally it would be, but these ones are tough to catch. And Salem is slippery. We weren’t really able to pin much on her when it came to court. Or so the records say. Just stay careful. I’d suggest moving to a government safe house, but we also don’t want them to know we’re onto them.” Neptune answered as Blake and Weiss entered the room.

“So, what’s going on Yang? Having a party without us?” Blake asked. It didn’t take them long to fill them in on the details of what happened. Blake wasn’t happy to hear those names, and Yang started giving her worried glances every once in a while.

“Oh, and by the way, Yang wanted to trash this place and make it look like we’d been attacked.” Ruby said nonchalantly. Yang stared at her, mouth gaping, as the other two glared daggers at Yang.

“W-why you little…” Yang shook her head in Rubys direction, looking utterly disappointed. Ruby only smiled at Weiss, who noticed and returned the smile, shocked a bit by everything that had happened so far, but still in a pretty decent mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> I swear I didn’t procrastinate on this until the  
> very last minute! I swear! Okay… maybe I shouldn’t  
> swear about this but still XD Anyways, I hope  
> you all enjoy this! And whatever awaits us in the future!  
> Suggestions are always welcome and I try to respond  
> to every comment left! Anyways, sorry this chapter  
> is a bit shorter, but I’m really tired now and I need sleep!  
> Bye bye! Love ya all and thanks for sticking with me  
> for so long! It means a lot to me! I’ll let you all know  
> when or if anything interesting comes up for my plans  
> for my other stories :D And whoaaaa chapter 25 already.  
> And to think my original goal was to make it to 12 chapters >_<


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks  
> Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people  
> who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!  
> Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other  
> person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!  
> Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!  
> (Sky is not a fanfiction author but is an amazing editor!   
> Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)  
> Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 26

“So, Weiss… what do you think about those people that Sun told us about? Those Adam and salami people.” Ruby asked while they nibbled on dinner. Neither of them were really in the mood for food. It wasn’t that they were in a bad mood either, just that they had a lot to think about.

“Do you mean Salem? And Adam. There was a Tyrian too and a few others that they listed before leaving.” Weiss stated as she scrolled through her phone. If Ruby had to hazard a guess, she was probably searching for some information on them.

“Uh, yeah. Those people.” Ruby said as she leaned back on the couch where they were situated. They had recently taken to eating out there and oddly enough, Weiss didn’t have any complaints. 

“So, it turns out that all of those criminals they mentioned did have a connection to your mother. Apparently, she was an amazing detective. She was not just some ordinary run of the mill officer, she was one of the best detectives this town has seen and mopped up most of the bigger criminals she set her sights on.” Weiss stated as she continued her rapt reading. Ruby hummed happily as Weiss talked.

“Yup! She was super mom! Baker of cookies and slayer of baddies! Except she didn’t actually try and kill anyone. Just, uh, putting that last part out there.” Ruby said proudly. She hadn’t known much about what her mother did but she knew her mom was a well-respected person and that she was on the news every once in a while when something big happened.

“Yes, I wish I could have possibly met her.” Weiss sighed out, obviously displeased that she couldn’t. Ruby responded with a sad smile and a shrug. They could always visit her moms grave, but she knew that Weiss wished for something else.

“Anyways, all the people that Sun mentioned had been part of some sort of case that your mother had taken part of. It looks like other than being a long time associate of the other 4, they were not able to pin any crimes directly on Salem. Although many believe that she was the head of the problems.” Weiss said, returning to Ruby’s previous question.

“Well being an associate of 4 wanted criminals and not turning them in is plenty of a crime anyways. Anything else on her? And what about the others?” Ruby asked, finally taking a big bite of her food as Weiss rolled her eyes.

“I am getting to all that. There isn’t really anything else on Salem but the Watts was a well-known doctor. He also had a few degrees in mechanics and other such things. Turns out he was abducting and doing experiments on humans though.” Weiss said, a disgusted frown present on her face now.

“Well…. He, uh… doesn’t sound like a very nice guy.” Ruby said, not finding much else she could comment on. Weiss continued to read what she could though and Ruby patiently waited for the next bit on news.

“Tyrian is next on the list. He had many murders on his list of crimes. He stated in court that he did it because it was what he loved doing and that he would continue to do it. Crazy bi-” Weiss cut herself off before she finished the sentence. Ruby didn’t know whether to snort in laughter at Weiss cutting herself off from swearing or to snort in disgust at the news of this next person.

“He must have been the one behind those Emerald and Mercury people then. And the other strings of murders we’ve seen. And probably the person who was in that car too…” Ruby replied, hoping Weiss wouldn’t mind that she was bringing the car accident up. Thankfully she didn’t seem bothered but did have a troubled and thoughtful look on her face.

“Maybe… but something about that whole thing bothers me… Anyways, there’s also Adam and Hazel. Adam was a leader of a small terrorist group. They apparently injured a few hundred people at least and caused a few hundred thousand dollars worth of damage to the city before your mother went in and broke things up.” Weiss quickly said, wanting to figure out what kind of crimes the last person was known for.

“Oh… I remember being told something about that one actually. I think that was one of the few my mom actually told me about. I don’t know anything other than how they were bad people and caused a lot of harm though.” Ruby said, trying to think back to that day.

“And lastly, is Hazel… apparently, he was wanted for the ‘creation’ and distribution of many illegal drugs and other addictive and yet highly toxic things. I am pretty sure that he is not the one who actually made any of it though. But it seems he worked in tandem with Adam. He is also suspected of being the one to hide any bodies.” Weiss said in a deadpan voice.

“Well, this is gonna be great… Did Sun say that all of them escaped or just that those could be people after us?” Ruby asked, slowly getting more worried now that she had heard more about these people.

“I do not quite recall. But I think it is safe to say we should be worried about all these people. Specifically Tyrian and Watts. Although something about that Tyrian man still bugs me…” Weiss said with a sigh. Things weren’t really looking up for them.

“And Salami! She’s the mastermind remember? But yeah, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do about it all. I mean, it’s not like this is some kinda TV show or book where we’re the main characters. We wouldn’t exactly be able to pull much off. Except dying. I’m sure we can handle that.” Ruby said, in a quite serious voice.

“Salem. But yes, we probably should just stay away from all this. Things would be so much easier if we could just take a vacation or move out of town or something while those two handle things here.” Weiss said, before freezing. Ruby gave her a curious look before suddenly turning around with wide and worried eyes, finding absolutely nothing behind her.

“Weiss… what are you staring at? I thought this was one of those scenes where the killer was standing right behind me all of a sudden and you scared me…” Ruby said, looking back towards Weiss, slightly out of breath as her heart rate slowed down.

“Ah, I was just thinking about how we technically can leave town for a little while and how neither of us actually thought of that.” Weiss said flippantly before lightly smacking her forehead with an audible sigh.

“Yeah, I suppose we could do that. We don’t exactly have anywhere we can go though. We’re kinda low on money right now after all.” Ruby said, trying to count up how much money they had and how much things would probably cost.

“True. But we could always ask for help from your sister. Or my sister too. Or even my father…” Weiss nearly whispered the last part. Ruby still didn’t know the full story as to why Weiss hated her father, but she had pieced together enough to know that Jaquess Schnee was not someone she would like.

“We don’t need to do that Weiss. We could probably ask Winter without much problem, but Jaquess is a last resort.” Ruby said as she wrapped a soothing arm around Weiss. She was gifted with a soft smile and a small kiss on the cheek in return for her words and actions.

“You sure are a sweet one I see. You might be a bit too sweet for me, seeing as I am not a huge fan of sugars.” Weiss said with a smile. Ruby beamed in response. Her smile didn’t take long to turn to a smirk though when a wink followed the next words said.

“Well, I’m sure I can figure out some kind of sweets you enjoy. Might just have to be something homemade.” Ruby said with a light giggle. Weiss raised her eyebrow and shook her head.

“A very tempting offer. But after last time you said you wanted to make some sweets, I am not sure I want you to try anything in the kitchen.” Came the reply, which was quickly followed by a kiss.

\-------------

“So Sun, what’s the plan here? We don’t exactly have much in the way of leads.” Neptune said sourly as they sat hunched over a table, papers scattered everywhere.

“Well, first we’ll clean up. Then I’m sure we can find something else to look into. Have we looked at the official files for the cases Mrs. Rose worked? We might find something useful there.” Sun said, gathering all the papers into a pile and not bothering to organize them. Nepture followed suit as he thought.

“I’m pretty sure we already looked through the official files… but have we checked her personal files? We might find something in the notes she kept. I’m sure she kept track of how she was able to find them. Maybe we can recreate what she did?” Neptune commented as he set the papers back into the correct areas, being a good deal more organized then Sun.

“That sounds like a plan. Although it’ll be difficult to retrace or recreate the work of one of someone so skilled…” Sun said thoughtfully. They both let silence take hold for a minute or two as they searched for the personal records of Summer Rose. It took them a while but eventually, they found it.

“It may be difficult, but we shouldn’t have a problem with me around. If there’s anyone out there who can do it, it’s me!” Neptune said smugly as he held up the file victoriously. Sun rolled his eyes but didn’t bother arguing. He already knew it wouldn’t make a difference so there was no use arguing about something so pointless. Instead, he snatched the file and laid it on the table.

“Well, shall we see what we have here? I’m sure we’ll find something useful. Maybe the places that they preferred to be around? That would certainly be helpful.” Sun said as they started to scrounge through these new files. Summer seemed to keep immaculate notes of her investigations though, so there was a great deal of papers that needed to be scoured for details. They seemed to have their work cut out for them this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> So, I’ll be honest and just straight up say that  
> I almost forgot to write this chapter for y’all XD  
> I ordered a handmade sword and it came in the day  
> after I posted the previous chapter and I’ve been  
> so preoccupied with admiring it that I didn’t start  
> writing this until the last minute. In case you’re  
> wondering, the swords name is Howaitorozu btw!  
> I also got a little sickly a bit more recently. Hopefully  
> that will be gone by the time I post this though.  
> And once again, I’m sorry this was late! But late  
> is better than not at all right? Right…?  
> Now anyways, as you all know WRW is coming up  
> sometime soon. I’ve been having a little bit of  
> trouble when it comes to one-shot ideas so I  
> eventually decided that maybe I should let you  
> all have a say! You can all find the topics on the  
> Tumblr blog white-rose-week and if you  
> have anything you would like to see, leave it in  
> the comments of this chapter! Now, I hope you all  
> enjoyed this chapter cuz apparently connecting the ending  
> of a story is something that my brain struggles with. Sigh

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I decided to cross post my fanfic from FFN!  
> I'm still figuring out how to use the website so pardon me   
> if things are organized a bit weird...  
> I hope you enjoy the story!!


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